Bring it on!
by Clzh and Clzh-x
Summary: Hot on the heels of the Zero Two adventure, Daisuke finds himself with the responsibility of guiding a new generation. Unfortunatly, a rift is torn between the old and the new as the first Chosen find themselves unwilling to associate with the new ones.
1. New Day

"Stop! Thief!"

The middle school had erupted into chatter and confusion as a sole character raced down the hallway, carrying a small box under his arm. Argent hair whipped against his face as he tore down the corridor, thankful for the masses of students to hide within. Another individual, garbed in a black uniform, charged after him, slowly gaining. Hitting the stairway, he slid down the railing, and broke into another run as he reached the ground floor.

He came to the faculty parking lot, and was almost at the first car, when, out of _nowhere_, a third boy flew down and landed on the car, generating an explosion of glass and debris. The boy froze stiff as the silhouette rose, demonic against the rising smoke from the utterly destroyed… _thing_ that had once been a Toyota, Cresta model.

The pursuer ground to a halt as the obscured boy slowly stepped from the wreckage, shook himself off and smiled pleasantly. Turning to the silver-haired boy, he copped a smart mock salute.

"Hi, there! Am I right in believing you've got something that doesn't belong to you?"

The thief held the package behind his body, holding his free arm over it, and shook his head defiantly.

"Not much for talking, are you? Fine with me!" The mysterious boy smiled again, walking slowly forward.

"Look, we can make this go one of two ways. Either we can do what I want, where you give that back, and no one gets hurt. Or, we can do what your friend over there wants…," here, the boy who came out of the "car crash" pointed over the thief's shoulder at the high school student in black, "… and let him beat the spit out of you and then take it. Your choice."

The snowy haired boy looked briefly over his shoulder at the lean student in black, and than back at the boy in front of him. The first was lithe of figure, and somewhat svelte, also possessed of an athletic gait, and slightly longer legs than most of that age. The second student, an athletic seventh-grader, was of a slightly stockier build, but not _short_ in any way, with solid limbs. Considering his options, he moved slowly toward the boy by the car heap, held out the package, the size of a breadbox. The boy smiled once again, but gave a small yelp of surprise when the bandit used the rubble of the vehicle to reposition himself in midair, and then took off running in a different direction.

The argent-haired adolescent ran away as fast as he could, but, once again from out of _nowhere_, the athlete ran and caught up with him, using a slide tackle to halt his forward momentum.

"Last chance, hot shot. Give it up!" Apparently, the sixth-grader was a capable sportsman, and was only pleasant until crossed.

As the original chaser, the shadow, caught up with the thief, the teenager held out his hand for the package.

"Give back the box, or I will hurt you. _Badly._"

The thief could not react to this statement, arms being pinned underneath him. The athlete, who had landed on top of the boy, turned towards the third figure, and began to shout back.

"Hey! I got it, you don't have to worry! No need to beat him up."

"He stole from the **Ankoku**. He's judgment lies with _us_."

The thief paled visibly. The Ankokuwas an organization of yakuza spread throughout the district. Dealing in loan-sharking, protection, with their claws in multiple official authority-centric offices and other dubious professions, crossing them usually meant an untimely revenge on a large scale.

"Well, what's so important about this… box?" The athlete stretched over to where the package had skidded, easily plucking the box from the ground. He examined it, turning it over in his hands as he noted its ordinary appearance. White, no larger than a shoebox, and holding something noticeably heavy, it didn't really strike his fancy as an object of worth. Maybe it wasn't the box that was valuable…

"I suggest you don't lift up that lid any further, if you want to stay on the organization's good side."

The athlete immediately removed his hand from the incriminating object, scratching the back of his head with it. He grinned goofily, chuckling. "Sorry, curiosity got the better of me. Here you go!"

The thief's eyes widened in shock as the package passed hands. No! He had worked hard to get that! Realizing there was nothing that he could do, the thief stood up slowly and sighed. He turned away, and began to walk slowly towards the school, into the waiting arms of the campus police. With the elementary, middle, and high school so close to one another, the district allowed the high school police full jurisdiction in each area. A dubious bureaucratic decision, to be sure.

"Wait a moment, boy."

The thief turned and gulped as the gangster advanced on him. Arm raised high, the resulting punch would've easily hospitalized the boy if it hadn't been checked by the arm of the athlete.

"Hey, hey! Chotto matte! No need to be rough. You've got your package, and he's going to get his punishment. No need to make things worse," the athlete warned. The mobster looked fiercely at the unflinching sportsman, and then turned away slowly.

"Better watch yourself… Motomiya."

The thug pulled his cap low over his eyes, and walked away with the package tucked under his arm. The athlete watched him go, huffing a little, and then turned back to the thief who was ambling away quietly.

"JING!" A brunette girl screamed, tearing into the arms of the silver haired thief. Snuggling him a little, she looked at him, and with a sob, began to babble incoherently.

"Are you okay! I was so worried that you would be hurt. You are okay, aren't you? No injuries?"

Pushing the girl away from him, the thief, apparently named Jing, gave her a stern look, and began his march anew.

"Oy!" The athlete grunted. "She's worried about you! Say something to her!"

Jing threw him a scathing look, grunted at the girl, and began to march away again, this time at a faster pace.

Walking up to the girl, the athlete put his hand on her shoulder. She sniffed a little, rubbing her eyes, and then smiled happily.

"Sorry about Jing. He's a bit rough around the edges."

The sportsman smiled. "Aren't we all? My name's…"

"Daisuke!"

Responding to the call, the boy looked up to where the new voice had come from. His five friends were motioning to him, each with a similar expression: disbelief, incredulity, shock, surprise, and overall confusion.

He waved and smiled at them, turning back to the girl, only to realize that she wasn't there. Looking around a bit, and then giving up, Daisuke grinned and waved happily to his friends.

"Hey all! How ya doin'?"

"How ya' doin'!" screeched Miyako, a loud, exuberant girl with waist-length lavender hair and trademark coke-bottle glasses. "Look at _that!_" Following the direction of his friend's stabbing finger, Daisuke saw the debris of the expensive vehicle.

"Eh… I didn't like that teacher much, anyway," he called back up to the second floor.

Ken sighed in exasperation, and then chuckled a little. Being best friends with the daredevil Daisuke, the blue-haired boy found himself constantly amazed at the numerous talents that displayed themselves each day.

Iori watched the scene calmly, being respectably calmer than the others, he merely shrugged it off as a freak accident, but with Daisuke, you could never be sure.

Takeru gaped, openmouthed, as the spiky-haired soccer player smiled up cheerfully. There could have been NO WAY that he could've survived that. But, surveying the ruins that were once the fanciest car in the faculty lot, he couldn't help but snigger at his colleague's antics.

Hikari giggled a little at the whole scene Daisuke caused. The unpopular teacher in question, Takara-sensei, 12th grade physics teacher, was screaming at the boy from the high school across the joint lot. Daisuke was doing a little jig, satisfied with himself, and generally reveling in the laughter that emanated from the halls of the middle school, and from across the way, the laughter of the elder high school students. It really was true that no one liked Takara, even Hikari, universally kind and accepting Hikari, felt no remorse for the man. Even the staff was laughing!

Smiling, Daisuke began to walk up the stairs to the second floor, noticeably satisfied with himself. He liked being the center of attention, even though he sometimes overdid it, even in his own mind. He took out his watch, 11:26. 4th period had started ten minutes ago, but even his algebra teacher hadn't noticed in the confusion caused by the star soccer player on the middle school team.

The rest of the school day passed rather uneventfully, apart with a paper airplane being thrown, which in turn, knocked off the horribly fake rug of the principal. Daisuke was grateful to be out of the school building.

As the other members of his close group of friends joined him on the walk to the local park, everyone was joking about the event.

"… and it went up with a BOOM!"

"How it happened I'll never know."

"I'm amazed he's still standing!"

"He's a surprise! Something new, every day!"

"…Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

The resounding laughter echoed for a distance, when Takeru decided to add something.

"So, are you invincible, or what?"

Daisuke shrugged, "No clue! Just lucky, I guess."

Takeru gave him a hard look. "Just lucky? Daisuke, you jumped from 18 feet above the ground, crushed a giant metal car, and come out untouched? I don't think so."

"Hey, I don't know what happened! "

"You jumped as if you knew you would survive."

"I was acting on impulse! I wanted to slow him down enough to stop him!"

"Oh, I'm sure!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Stepping between the two, Hikari's elder brother, Taichi, put his hands up, and held the two back from physically maiming each other. It was quite an effort, to be true.

Eventually, the two tired of the struggle, and silently resolved to ignore the other during the walk. Hikari sighed in exasperation; for two people who were very close friends, they could be stubborn beyond belief! Heck, they were fighting like they did back at the beginning of their adventure a few months ago, when Daisuke got jealous easily, over the slightest thing, too!

She turned to see Daisuke, who was hanging back and looking over the avenue at something. She followed his gaze, seeing Jun, Daisuke's college level sister. Jun was an enigma in her own right, similar to, and at the same time, entirely different from her little brother. Daisuke smiled, waved and beckoned.

Jun trotted over to the group, smiling happily, gave each of them a small hello (Yamato decided to hind behind Taichi's eratic hair), grabbed her brother's arm, and yanked him away. Hikari, being as curious as the infamously dead cat, strained her ears, only managing to catch snatches of the conversation.

"…is that?"

"…no clue! Looks like…"

"…ask somebody?"

"…family expert on weird stuff."

"Hey!"

Daisuke's small outburst had caught the attention of the group, and Hikari was glad for the excuse to ask, "What's that?"

Hikari pointed to the strange object in Daisuke's hands. It looked like a thick bracelet, but a section of the item elongated about half a foot. A strange gem was set in the center of the device, and small hemispheres of a similar material surrounded it. Nobody had any clue what it was, and so Koushirou's interest was perked.

"May I see it?"

Jun shrugged and tossed it into his hands. Instantly, he tried to press a few of the gems, getting no results. Turning the device over, he passed it to Miyako, who tried and failed to get a reaction. It was passed in turn, each of the group trying and failing to get a result.

"It seems it's just a fancy trinket."

Jun nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, but watch _this_." Tapping a few of the small gems, and then sliding her fingers over the larger one, a small light show was activated, bathing the assembly in iridescent illumination.

Jun removed her fingers, and the lights suddenly disappeared. Koushirou grabbed the voice (ignoring the "Hey!" from Daisuke), and pressed the same buttons in sequence. Nothing.

Snatching the device back, Daisuke handed it back to Jun, muttering "Rude."

Hikari paused in wonder. Maybe…

Takeru voiced her thoughts. "So, does that mean that Jun's one of us now?"

"Oh no!" Yamato groaned. Jun stuck her tongue out at him cutely before turning back to the device in her hand.

"…But, didn't you just defeat that huge, evil vampire thing, and then the weird giant scorpion? Why would I need to be one? You have this save the world thing pretty much down, right?"

"We like to think so, Jun!" Taichi smiled.

"Don't encourage her!" Yamato hissed. Taichi bopped him lightly on the head, giving him the patented Yagami Cute Smile that he and Hikari were famous for. Sora giggled a little. Jun smiled softly.

She slid the device down her hand, where it fit snuggly around her wrist. Admiring her new fashion statement, she slung her bag over her shoulder, and followed somewhat timidly, noticing that she had at least two years on everyone else, not that it made a whole lot of difference in their line of work.

"So… now what?" Jun, like Daisuke, was an icebreaker, as too much silence could get to the both of them really easily.

Daisuke shrugged. Then his face lit up like a kid who had just been given free rein of a candy store.

"How about…" he voiced his ideas loud enough for the others to hear. "…we take that thing out for a little test drive?"

"I'm not sure, Daisuke. We don't know what that thing can do. Jun doesn't even have her own partner, yet," Koushirou reprimanded him.

"So what? We go and look for one. From what I remember, not one of you got your status and partner at the same time, either." Jun wasn't sure whether to back Koushirou's wisdom, or Daisuke's ideals, although she was kind of excited by the thought of her own monster friend.

"I say we do it." Jun yelped in surprise as a large white cat, with disproportionately huge, but very pretty, blue eyes, popped out of Hikari's shoulder bag. Hikari shrugged at the idea, with a small "Why not?"

"Well…" Taichi was voicing his concerns, oddly enough. But then, he caught Yamato's eye, and grinned sinisterly. "Really, why not? We can all go!"

Yamato paled and then looked at Taichi darkly.

"What are you getting so uptight for, Ishida? She's not interested in you anymore."

Pausing for a moment, Yamato shrugged in defeat. Sora smiled at Jun, giving her a thumbs up.

"Besides, we could use the chance to see our friends, right? Even Koushirou needs to see Tentomon."

"But, even if we do go, who'll monitor the connection?"

"I'll do it."

Everyone turned in shock to Daisuke, whose hand was raised in self-volunteering. Even Hikari couldn't hide her surprise.

"Why not? It's Jun's moment, and all of you can see your partners, right?"

Ken looked at Daisuke for a moment, and then voiced his support for his idea, soon followed by other voices of encouragement. It was decided.

After a brief training on what the symbols on the screen meant (Daisuke paid extra hard attention; he didn't want to be responsible for any screw-ups from the outside end), the vast majority of the group had disappeared into the screen. Daisuke, left alone with his thoughts, began to whistle cheerfully, awaiting the story upon the return of his friends.

Well, he was, at least, until a hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Hello again, Motomiya."


	2. Strike

To see a new dimension, in its entire natural splendor, was an amazing sensation for Jun Motomiya, to say the least. The hike in which she learned about all sorts of fauna and flora that was intrinsically similar to and different from that life forms on Earth was an excellent experience. As they walked on, every once in a while, they'd meet one of the digimon of the group, Jun would shake their appendage (claw, wing, etc.) and the group would get a little larger. The only digimon she didn't end up meeting was V-mon, but that was because he was still in Daisuke's room, enjoying loads of chocolate and popcorn.

The large group laughed and talked as they continued to move at a steady pace. Even Yamato managed to enjoy himself for the most part. It was a major rush for everyone to point something out to a _college_ student, and to see the joy on her face at learning something new. Even things that the others took for granted managed to surprise her. Everyone was enjoying themselves immensely.

After three hours or so, the assembled came upon a small clearing. Peaceful enough, except for the graffiti on nearly everything in sight.

"Oh man! I just had this area cleaned!" Gabumon grunted in exasperation. "Stupid Dracmon! Come on out!"

In reply, a gleeful cackling filled the area. "Aw, what's the matter, Gabu-chan? I made it pretty!" Out of nowhere, a small figure flew into the area, hovering slightly using two bat wings, before dropping onto a rock that was lodged in the riverbank.

Standing up, the figure surveyed the group, giving the others a good luck at the firebrand troublemaker. Maybe 3'9" (4' was being generous) standing upright; the figure's body was blue, covered by a black hood and pair of pants. The two wings, blue in color, had wrapped themselves around the front, where the two protruding red joint claws held a small golden pendant with a blue stone set in the center. The small monster also wore a pair of dark purple shoes, with three red talons spreading from each. A forked tail swished playfully, while the small demon flashed a peace sign with both hands, revealing the armbands wrapped around her limbs, the red claws that extended from her fingers, and the two eyeballs set in her palms, green in the left and red in the right, which matched the color and orientation of the eyes in the sides of the hood. Grinning and cackling, Dracmon was a sight to see as she did a demonic little dance.

"Dracmon, clean this up! Right now!" Gabumon ordered. Jun was surprised, Gabumon was usually so calm and peaceful, this Dracmon must've done something to reallyanger him.

Dracmon smiled sinisterly, leaning on one of the images she had placed in the area.

"And what if I say no? You can't possibly beat me; you've tried and failed, remember?"

Jun stared in shock, not because of the insult, but because of the picture.

"Um… guys?"

Jun pointed at the picture and traced its outline, revealing all of the graffiti to be a large whole image. Gabumon yelled in frustration at the image. A winged dragon sinking its fangs into a flaming bird. Qinglongmon and Zhuqiaomon.

Instantly in a rage, all of the digimon began to hurl attacks at the delinquent, who dodged each with a cackle. After being filled in on the symbolism behind the dragon and the phoenix (she truly thought it looked more like a chicken that had caught fire), Jun understood why they were so adamant about fighting with the delinquent, but only Tailmon seemed to be making any headway. Not very much, though.

"Oof!" Tailmon grunted as she was thrown against a rock by another "Eye of Nightmare" attack. Eye of Nightmare (released by the strange pendant Dracmon sported) filled the target's head with horrid thoughts of death and decay, immobilizing them with horror and grief, which allowed Dracmon to fling them away easily.

"I'm getting tired of this. Hey, Gabu-chan! How 'bout I make you my partner in crime? It'll be worth your while!"

"N-never!"

"Fine. You won't be able to stop me, anyway. Undead Fang!"

Dracmon flung herself at the lizard, revealing her many sharp teeth. There was a reason as to why she had been named after Dracula, after all.

Gabumon closed his eyes. He had long been without the ability to move after absorbing a few attacks with his legs. "I'm sorry… Yamato-kun."

Yamato ran to his partner, but Taichi had to hold him back. "What can you do! Once he's gone, you're in danger, too!"

"Let me go, you son of a…! GABUMON!" Yamato screamed. Dracmon grinned as she closed in on her prey. She closed her eyes in ecstasy as the last few meters between her and Gabumon disappeared. Wait a minute. That wasn't data she tasted! What the heck!

She opened her eyes, only to see the human that the others called Jun in her way. She tasted… what was that warm liquid? Removing her fangs, she leapt back of few feet to appraise this situation. Jun was standing between her and Gabumon, who was just now getting to his feet. Jun was panting heavily, holding her right arm as it leaked a red liquid in copious amounts.

"No… way… who are you?" Dracmon questioned. This human was still standing, after receiving an armful of her most powerful attack. Undead Fang could bring down Digimon Adults!

Yamato ran forward, gathered Gabumon into his arms, and stared at Jun in awe. She… why did she do that?

"Yamato… get the others out of here! Move!"

Dracmon had recovered from the shock. This human had higher endurance than most, but the Fang still sapped her strength. Another attack and she would go down. Hard. She leapt forward, only to halt at the sight of the injury.

To the amaze of everyone, it was healing itself! Not possible! They all stared in shock as the blood flow ceased and the injury sealed up.

"You… what's that on your arm?" Dracmon stared at the strange device Jun sported around her wrist. Realization dawned, and then Dracmon threw herself down to the floor.

The digidestiny stared, expectantly awaiting a surprise attack of some sort. What they hadn't been expecting was for Dracmon to throw a tantrum.

"THIS! IS! SO! NOT! FAIR!"

Jun stared in shock as the device on her wrist glowed brightly. The strange hue of light emanating from the device at her arm began to fly from Dracmon's body as well. The lights focused themselves into one small beam connecting both human and digimon. Instantly Dracmon stood up, scowled at Jun, and then turned away, thinking.

"Well, this sucks. Hard." Dracmon was not happy. The human partner she had followed _morals_, the fool. "I'll never have any fun around _her_. The worst thing she does is probably paint her claws," Dracmon snickered. In the next moment, she found herself clutching her head in agony.

"I heard that, you little dracula mini-me. I'll have you know that I utterly _despise_ make-up." Jun picked another rock off the ground, and started juggling it in her hand. Dracmon stared at the human, and then broke into a grin.

"Well, maybe your not _so_ bad. At least there's a chance for fighting other digimon with an excuse."

"We do _not_ fight for the sake of fighting!" Gabumon called out.

"Feeling confident, are ya? Let's test that feeling out, then."

Koushirou decided to make himself known. "Um, we have a small problem. Daisuke isn't responding. At all."

"What! We need that idiot to get home!" Miyako screeched.

"Not to fear. I prepared for something like that. Automatic recall. I can remote access the laptop and bring us all home."

Dracmon grinned, a chance to see the human world? Sounded like fun! More havoc to create!

"Why, though? Daisuke wouldn't leave his post."

"We'll findout when we get there. Let's go, shrimp!" Dracmon called over to the computer geek. He glared at her, and then activated the protocol. In a bright flash of light, the clearing was empty.

Jun rubbed her eyes on the unsettling trip back, and then giggled at the scene before her. Apparently, she was the only one to come out standing up, as there was a large pile of digidestiny before her. As they righted themselves, they began to look around for the AWOL boy.

A small groan sounded from behind her, and Hikari turned to see Daisuke struggling to his feet. She gasped, seeing he was covered in blood. She screamed softly, and then ran over to him, supporting him with her shoulder. Instantly, a mass surrounded the two.

"Daisuke? Daijoubu!"

"Ma ma desu..." at this, Daisuke began to hack and cough violently. "Just clearing up some bad blood, that's all."

Hikari helped Daisuke over to the bench, where he sat down rather suddenly.

"Who did this?" Jun asked. Daisuke grimaced a little at the tone. Jun was on the warpath.

"Just some Yakuza that I got on the wrong side of."

"Was it the boy from this morning? The one in the cap?" Hikari asked quietly.

"No. Well, not him, specifically. Some random Ankoku thugs." Daisuke coughed again, wiping the blood that started to dribble from his mouth a little.

"Well, the boy's a trooper, I'll give him that."

Daisuke turned at the sight of the new voice, catching sight of Dracmon.

"Hi there! You're Jun's partner?"

"Unfortunately."

"Heh. Well, that's good. She can take care of you."

"Daisuke," Hikari scolded. "We need to get you home. Our place is quickest, I think. You can come with us."

Helping Daisuke to his feet, Hikari and Taichi managed to move him the four blocks to their apartment, into the elevator, and into their home. After getting him steadied, Hikari backed off to let Jyou take a look.

"Wow. Daisuke, you shouldn't even be standing," Jyou concluded. "Your ribs are bruised in three areas, and your spine is barely intact!"

Daisuke grunted and smiled grimly. "Well, at least they didn't bring knives," Dracmon offered not-so-helpfully, and then shrunk back from Hikari's and Jun's glares. Daisuke chuckled a little, wiping more blood from his lips. Hikari offered to make him something to drink, lemonade, probably, and huried to the kitchen to prepare it before Daisuke could protest. Takeru grinned at face he was making.

"Well, your pride's in good shape, at least," he smiled. Daisuke suck his tongue out before collapsing onto the couch. He turned at the sound of a door knocking, or rather, being pounded. Taichi opened the door, dodging V-mon as he sped to Daisuke's side.

"Daisuke! You okay? Tailmon came and told me..."

Daisuke burst out laughing at his digimon's expression, mostly because the chocolate he had left his digimon with was smeared all over his face. He immediately regretted the action as more blood surfaced. Hikari had just come back from the kitchen, and set a small tray of glasses on the coffee table, and a pitcher of lemonade next to them. She was aout to start serving them, when Dracmon swiped the pitcher, and chugged it quickly, with an impish "Thanks!"

Hikari gave the vampire a look, and left to make more lemonade. Before she could move very far, Daisuke placed his hand on her shoulder, and made her sit down.

Not able to take the glares (rather, getting bored with them), Dracmon popped a question. "So, what did they want?"

"Revenge, maybe. The one good thing I found was the object they had in that wierd box."

"You mean the one that the kid had under his arm when you chased him.

"Yep! It's another one of those wierd digivices like the one Jun's got."

The assembled stared at Jun's arm, and then turned back to Daisuke.

"But, I know who it's for, and not even they know that!"

"How do you know?" Koushirou asked.

"Simple. The gem on the center matches the eyes perfectly."

Koushirou looked at the center stone on the device, and then up at Jun. Daisuke was right, surprisingly. A perfect match.

"But, why would they have one?"

"Because," came a new voice. "Somebody in the system screwed up."

The group turned to the window, where a girl with dark brown hair stared at them. Her arms were crossed, and, just above the elbow rested another of the digivices.

"I figured you would know, Aki-chan," Daisuke smiled. "But no, I think they're supposed to have those two."

Wait, what? Jun turned to Daisuke, who began to stand up. She put her hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him down, but in a bright flash of light, Daisuke was up and at the window before anyone could stop him.

Surveying the boy, the girl (the second generation recognized her from that morning) turned to Jun. "I believe your Brace has the Heal Element."

"Heal... Element?"

"It acts on your will. If you want someone to heal, it heals them."

Dracmon stared hard at the newcomer. "So, what's your's, then?"

The girl lifted her hand, and suddenly, the air surrounded it turned immediately to ice, which broke apart, and then returned to its former state.

"Matter displacement."

"Nice job, Aki-chan!" Daisuke smiled. "So, we know about two, no, four, of the Braces, I think you called them?"

"Aki?" Hikari asked, before being met with a cold stare.

"Akina to _you_." Hikari paled and shrunk back at the venom.

"Aki-chan here helped me out after the Ankoku left. She hid because she didn't want to be seen, I think."

Akina smiled a little, but then...

"So, the four braces we know about, mine, your sister's, and the ones held by the Ankoku..."

"That _belong_ to the members of the Ankoku, Aki-chan. Just because they went after Jing when he tried to get them for you doesn't mean they're bad."

"How- how did you know?" Akina stared at him, shocked.

"Jing's pretty good at the thieving bit, we've crossed a couple of times. He wouldn't do anything against the Ankoku unless someone wanted him to and could pay. I'm not sure what you gave him..." Akina blushed a little, and Daisuke continued. But you came up to me like some lovesick little puppy before disappearing. I know who you are because of the gossip.

"I also know who the two others belong to. Yes, they're yakuza, deal with it."

Akina grunted poutingly when Daisuke scolded her. Hikari stared at her odd behavior. Jun just shook her head.

"But, we need to find some way to get close to them... Do you think Jing might have an idea of how to get in?"

Akina smiled happily, nodding her head. "Oh, I nearly forgot. How did you get involved, Akina?"

Akina held up her bag. "I found my Brace around this stange egg thing." She unzipped the bag, and pulled out an egg the size of a basketball.

"A digitama..." Tailmon breathed. Akina snuggled it a little, cooing. "It makes tiny movements sometimes. I think it's gonna..."

The egg jumped nearly out of Akina's hands, and instantly, it broke apart, revealing the baby digimon within.

It blinked once, twice, and looked up at Akina. "Puff!" it squealed happily, jiggling with excitement. "Puff! Puff!"

Akina stared at the little blue... thing... in her hands. It was a fluffball with red-tipped ears.

"Puffmon. Cute, but playful," V-mon called warningly. "It's Puff Baloon bloats the thing to twice its normal size, usually knocking things over. Important things," he added as an afterthought.

"How do you know?" Tailmon questioned the blue dragon.

"Before I was sealed away, I knew a Puffmon that was playful beyond all belief. They like to keep active, so they thrive in open spaces."

"And how many other strange digimon did you know before you were sealed away?"

V-mon smiled mysteriously at her (Tailmon had to note that he looked... impressive... with that smile). "A few."

Tailmon looked at him, pouting that he wouldn't tell her anymore. She grunted, and faced the kitchen, where Puffmon was wreacking utter havoc. It squealed happily as it knocked things over, and then floated out of view.

"It wants to play Hide-and-Seek!" V-mon groaned. "Nobody move."

The sound of something falling over echoed through the apartment.

"That's my room!" Hikari shouted, tearing off into the hallway. "Get away from that, you little...!" Tailmon's voice accompanied her partner. More squealing permeated the room.

"Gotcha!" Daisuke smiled happily as he caught the digimon in his fingers. Unfortunately, Hikari was in mid-pounce, and knocked him to the floor. Puffmon, freed once again, giggled happily, and zoomed into Akina's waiting arms. Daisuke grunted in exasperation as he heard cooes and giggles escape from the hall and kitchen, both of which were beyond sight from Hikari's room. He attempted to rise, but then caught sight of Hikari, who had fallen down on top of him.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Hikari leapt off of him, blushing and mumbling apologies. Daisuke didn't say anything, but moved to pick up some of the fallen debris. A few books were sprawled on the floor, and Daisuke grabbed most of them. He looked at one that had some wriiten words in it, before shutting it and handing it back to Hikari. She mumbled a thank you, and then looked at him. He stared back gently, and then, completely unexpectedly, the two burst into laughter. The laughter continued, even when Hikari lost her balance, falling back down.

"...Ahem."

The laughter ceased as the pair looked up at Takeru for a moment. The two brunettes looked at each other, and then Hikari began to giggle. Daisuke couldn't help but chuckle to himself as Takeru joined in. Suddenly all three were rolling around on the ground, unable to contain themselves. Hikari managed to push herself against the wall for support, and Daisuke got up to all fours. Still laughing, Takeru only barely noticed that the laughter had stopped coming from Daisuke and Hikari. He looked down, and nearly fell over when he saw Daisuke press his lips against Hikari's.

Instantly withdrawing himself, Daisuke's wide eyes met Hikari's shocked ones. He had... he had just kissed her? Where... where did THAT come from? He looked at Hikari again as she put her fingers to her lips in disbelief before turning away. Daisuke hung his head in shame and backed off.

Oops.


	3. Gangster's Lair

"Hmm…" Hikari lay on her bed, staring up at her ceiling. Tailmon observed her partner silently, tail swishing back and forth calmly.

"…You know, you could just talk to him." Hikari's eyes snapped open at the suggestion. She was really hoping her partner didn't mean what she thought it meant.

"T-talk to who, Tailmon?"

Observing the human girl on the bed, Tailmon's eyes seemed to smile sardonically. "Smooth, Hikari-chan. Very smooth... I'm _fairly_ confident you know who I'm talking about."

Hikari gulped a little, stretching her shirt collar to release some of the heat from her neck. It didn't work.

"Just _talk_ to him, Hikari. Honestly, the two of you have both been acting strangely around each other for long enough."

Tailmon hopped up to the bed and put her paw on Hikari's arm supportively.

"Look, I know what you're going through. Puberty can suck sometimes; take it from someone with experience."

Hikari coughed harshly and stared at her feline partner. Tailmon smiled benignly, "Yes, I went through it, too. Never tell _anyone_ this, but I've had my fair share of crushes."

Hikari stared at her partner again, and then smiled somewhat sinisterly. "So… who is it now?"

Tailmon blushed and blinked.

"That's not gonna work on me, Hikari-chan. Your mind games are nothing compared to what I've seen."

Hikari pouted cutely, and then decided to give up, when faced with Tailmon's piercing gaze.

"Once again, talk to him, Hikari. He'd love to spend his time with you, we both know it. What are you afraid of?"

Hikari blushed and looked away, touching her lip softly. She stared out the window and studied the clouds.

"Don't wait forever, Hikari. He'll slip through your fingers, and you'll lose him for good. Once again, I speak from experience."

Hikari waited a moment, and then nodded quickly, smiling a little. Tailmon surveyed her friend with pride. Hikari leapt off of her bed, dashing to the door.

"Go get 'em, girl…" Tailmon smiled happily. She turned to the corner to take a catnap, and then noticed a rather important detail.

"Chotto matte, 'Kari-chan! Put on your shoes, first!"

……

Daisuke walked quickly down the street. Today was _the_ day. He hurried to his destination, the front gate of the high school. He glanced upwards once or twice and was met with the satisfying spectacle of V-mon leaping from the rooftops, heading in the same direction.

After the healthy jog to the front gate, Daisuke met Akina, Jun, and Jing, discussed the basic outline of the plan, and then tapped his watch twice. V-mon, still atop the roof, saluted and then dashed off to the far end to cause some havoc.

Jing went first; it was an easy enough run inside. The Ankoku didn't put up any serious defense until someone got close enough to be detected. Jing smiled at the fallen guard before he motioned to the others to follow him.

Jun went next, Dracmon at her side. A few "Eye of Nightmare" attacks later, and Daisuke and Akina proceeded to the innermost sanctum of the high school, the basement.

The basement itself was uniquely structured. A maze of walls and gates, there were several entrances from the ground floor. From Jing's information, the headquarters of the Ankoku was accessible only from the entrance in the farthest corner. The other entrances led to unique other parts of the command center of the organization, such as the vault. Jing even went so far as to label one of the sections as "Interrogation (**TORURE!**) Room".

Akina shivered a little as the pair progressed into the no-man's-land.

"Is it me, or is it getting colder?"

"It's not any colder than it was five minutes ago. That's fear you feel. It's a common sensation in our line of work," Daisuke smiled warmly.

Akina stared at the spike-haired boy beside her. He was a sixth-grader, several years younger then she was herself. And yet, there was the overflowing confidence that filled his veins. It seemed to define him somehow, now that she thought of it. That confidence, and certainly that unique sense of style were a large part of him; and then there was that something else that she couldn't place her finger on.

"Ready?"

Akina blinked, and then realized that they had reached the final door. Gulping slightly, she nodded quickly, and then they pushed the door open.

Walking forward, Akina jumped when the door shut suddenly behind them.

"Oy!" Daisuke called into the dark room. "Turn some lights on, would ya? We'd like to speak with you."

"Awfully rash of you to come in here with a girl and her toy, kid," the darkness echoed in a muted voice. Daisuke looked at Akina, who was clutching Puffmon to her body. The little fluff-ball didn't seem to mind, V-mon had taught him how to pretend he was a doll fairly quickly.

"What of it? Don't tell me you've never played with a toy," Daisuke taunted. He removed his goggles from his forehead.

"You're sweating." It was true, Akina realized. The small boy next to her had broken into a fine sweat.

"So what? It's dark, damp and humid in here."

Akina was about to reprimand him when a large explosion filled the room, echoed by the crinkle of glass. The girl cried out in fear, and was suddenly reminded of the reason why she hated gangsters with a passion. Her hand shot out to the side, and waved around wildly until another caught it.

"It's okay, Aki-chan. No one's hurt. They only got my goggles."

"…Who are you, kid?" The voice came back from the darkness.

"I'm just a boy with a couple of questions for you."

The darkness chuckled ominously. "Well, you're pretty good at this, aren't you?"

Daisuke didn't say anything.

"Very well, how about an exchange?"

"Fair enough."

"I'll start. How did you get here?"

"Good friends."

"Who are you?"

"Motomiya Daisuke."

"…Motomiya? I've heard that name before…"

"I play on the soccer team."

"…You're one of _them_, aren't you? The dimensional travelers?"

"…You could say that."

"…"

"May I start, Nazo-san?"

"…Very well." There had been a hint of cold laughter in the voice. Akina paled, and gripped Daisuke's arm.

"I'm looking into certain… devices. My friend here has one of them." Daisuke indicated Akina's elbow, and the device that hung upon it.

"I recently learned that you have two of them."

"…And?"

"I'm pretty sure you have no idea how they work, and I'm willing to provide information if my… requirements… are met."

"Oh?" The voice gave a hint of guarded interest.

"Yep. I can tell you about the abilities of the device quite easily."

"…What are these… requirements?"

"If it's all okay with you… I need three things: the devices, excellent lighting, and high quality iris images of the members of the Ankoku."

"…And what makes you think I would give them to you?" The voice probed. Akina broke into a cold sweat at the voice's imperial tone.

"If you want my information, my demands shall be met. I have no need to give you anything. All your men we came across on the way here or incapacitated, and for all you know, I have an army of fighters behind me."

The voice snorted derisively.

"You have no idea as to what I can do," Daisuke continued. "This is a risk that you'll have to take."

It seemed to last forever, Akina thought, until the figure behind the voice snapped his fingers. Instantly, the two were bathed in light. Blinded momentarily, Akina cleared her vision, and noticed that Daisuke was fast at work, shuffling through the images, comparing them with the devices.

How he was able to do this, she had no idea. The two devices were configured differently in shape and size. Each Brace she had come across was shaped differently; the only defining factor of similarity was that they were circular. Daisuke was moving quickly through the pictures, and at last came to a finish.

Akina could feel the tension filling the room as Daisuke smiled happily upon completing his work. He placed the devices to his side, two iris images next to them, shoved everything else off of the table, and sat down upon the desk.

"…Well?" came the voice.

"My, aren't we impatient, Nazo-kun?" Akina stared incredulously at the boy beside her. Did he _have_ a death-wish?

"Don't push it, boy," the voice growled. Daisuke smiled happily at the darkness.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, Nazo-kun! Look, the devices belong to the members that have these eyes." Daisuke picked up the images and waved them a little.

"…That's it? That's your information!"

"Pretty much, Nazo-kun! I can't tell you anything else until the 'Brace' is activated."

"…Activated?"

"I'll show you what I mean. Just send one of the members of the pair in."

"…Mason."

As he stepped into the light, Daisuke smiled happily at the gangster from the other day. The boy nodded curtly, and waited. Daisuke picked up a device and tossed it at him. The gangster slipped the device on, resting it at the mid-forearm point.

"Now, mess around with it a little."

The boy, taken aback a little at the command, pressed a few buttons. Nothing.

"Keep trying, Mason!"

Trying again, the delinquent's eyes widened in shock as a bright light filled the room, disappearing almost instantly. Daisuke smiled happily at the expression on the gangster's face.

"Congratulations, Mason! You're officially one of us, now."

Blinking a little, Mason paused to take in this information. Daisuke turned back to the dark silhouette.

"It's your turn, Nazo-kun!"

Akina gaped at Daisuke for the umpteenth time that day. He really must've had a death-wish.

"Ah, don't be shy, Nazo-kun!" Daisuke called out to the silent figure. "I saw your eyes when Mason's Brace went off. A perfect match." Daisuke tossed the second Brace at the figure.

A few moments, and suddenly the gangster swore. A bright light emitted from the room, fully revealing the enraged crime boss.

Daisuke chuckled at the sight. Apparently, the mystery had tried to fit the device around his neck, and in doing so, got it stuck on his shoulder. Even Akina giggled at the sight of the crime boss. Until a bullet whizzed by her ear.

Instantly, Daisuke was between her and the man.

"Oy! What was that for?"

"You no longer have a use to the Ankoku, kid. Your game is up."

Daisuke stood up straight, smiling. "Oh well. I guess you'll never get the last of my information."

The gangster smiled as Mason sided him, pistol at the ready. "Lame bluff, kid. Not even a nice try."

"No bluff. You've got half of the whole package deal. You've got your status, but your partners are still AWOL."

"Partners?"

"Ayup! Partners. Puffmon!"

Instantly, the blue fluff-ball giggled happily, and began to float around. Akina cried out to it, and began to chase the little blue monster.

"What _is_ that thing?"

"That's a digimon."

"Aren't digimon supposed to be more… threatening?"

"Only when they grow up. Little Puffmon is only a baby, though. The most it can do is…"

Daisuke grinned at the sound of a crash. "…That."

"Little freak…"

"Hey! Don't knock 'em until you have one!"

"And where can we… get some?"

"That all depends. Am I right in believing that when the Braces you have were discovered, that they were in close proximity to large eggs?"

"Puffmon! Come back here, you!" Daisuke paused as the furry blue balloon floated across his line of sight.

"…Yeah. The boys brought large eggs with them."

"Well, we'll need them."

Instantly, the gangster revealed the two eggs on his desk.

"Cool! Now then, pick them up…" The gangster handed one to Mason, keeping his own.

"Now, then, rub gently."

Nothing.

"Are you trying to make us look like idiots?"

"No, you've got the wrong eggs. Try again."

Mason took the other egg, and rubbed it slightly. Instantly, it cracked open. Staring at the egg in slight awe, Mason watched as a small, spherical life form emerged.

It was black, had two strange triangular ears, and it stared up at the gangster with three eyes, one red, one green, and one yellow. It had a small blue cylindrical base, with a small rope hanging from it.

Mason gazed at the small creature with an unreadable expression as it slowly observed its holder. Puffmon finally allowed Akina to catch him so he could view the scene. The small black orb stared at Mason, and then squeaked.

"Bomb!" it squealed. Suddenly the rope that hung from its body ignited with a loud crackling noise.

"Bomb! Bomb!"

"Aw… it likes you, Mason-kun!" The gangster glared at Daisuke, and then turned back to the little slime-ball in his arms. It squealed happily again, and jumped onto Mason's head, bouncing around on the cap.

The crime boss snorted. "Wow, impressive fighter, Mason."

"Hey!" Daisuke called. "Just wait until it grows up! It'll be an awesome fighter, I bet!"

Bombmon paid no heed to the conversation as it bounced around, its fuse crackling loudly. Puffmon floated up to it, and started conversing with it.

"What're they saying?" Mason asked.

"…No idea! I can only tell you it's called Bombmon. Digimon at that level can only say their name," Daisuke smiled. "Now, it's your turn, Nazo-kun. Rub the egg softly."

Instead, the gangster polished the egg with his elbow. Daisuke was about to stop him when the egg shattered. Eyes going wide, Daisuke was about to start shouting angrily when the little yellow creature cooed, and opened its large red eyes. Subdued, Daisuke watched the little creature turn and survey its surroundings sleepily. Puffmon turned and scooted closer to see the new monster.

Unfortunately, Bombmon, as a rule, have fiery personalities. Bombmon was happy as the center of attention, and having the attention diverted to the little yellow creature made it unhappy. And with a _"Bacchi Bacchi Bacchin!"_ it made its jealousy known. The loud noises startled the yellow newborn, and with an equally loud wail of "Popo!" the creature disappeared in a puff of yellow matter.

Wait a minute. This wasn't smoke, it was hair! The creature (it seemed to be a Popomon) had released an explosion of its own fur to hide. It didn't take long to find the little guy hiding in the corner. The crime boss walked over to it, and turned back to the Bombmon.

"Enough!" he roared at the black monster. It ceased its noise, satisfied that it had attention again, and began to do its own thing once more.

Popomon stared at the crime boss, its crimson eyes shining. Suddenly, it sprung off of its leaf-like tail onto the gangster's arm and scurried up to his neck, cooing softly.

"Aw… I think it really likes you, Nazo-kun!"

The gangster grunted as the little creature nuzzled his neck, cooing happily.

"It's… cute and… fuzzy… Okay, who screwed up!"

"Well, now that we have two new members… Aki-chan, be nice!" Daisuke (ignoring the gangster's remark) reprimanded the girl who was shooting rude hand signs at the felons.

"Anyway," Daisuke sighed "Why don't we head up topside to meet the rest of the team?"

The two gangsters, too freaked out to really pay attention, followed Daisuke and Akina up out of the school, where Jun, Jing, Dracmon, and V-mon were waiting. Introductions were made (Jun and Daisuke had to keep Jing from attacking the yakuza), and the group decided that a high school was not the best place to "meet and greet" as Jun called it.

So, Daisuke found himself in the presence of a thief, two gangsters, a college freshman, and a high school junior in need of anger management. Sitting down atop the nearby climbing mound, Daisuke surveyed the gathered.

"Okay, with the exception of one, we all have been gathered because of something to do with an alternate dimension, some of you know it as the digital world. There is no clue as to _what_ exactly the problem is, however…"

"So, we're all here, but we have no clue as to what's going on?"

"We have no idea as to how many of the new generation there are. So we have to find the others before the bad guys get the chance. And trust me, they'll jump at any chance they can get."

"So, since we have no idea where to look, can you suggest something to do in the meantime?"

"Actually, I have no…"

"Daisuke!"

The spiky-haired boy paused and turned at the new voice. He smiled and waved happily at Hikari, who was jogging quickly toward him. He hopped down from the climbing mound and grinned as Hikari paused to catch her breath. Once she had calmed down enough, she opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly clamped her mouth shut as a red tint colored her cheeks. Daisuke found himself unable to say anything as the events of a few days ago suddenly filled his memory. The two shuffled around uncomfortably as a horrid, uneasy silence hung over their heads.

"…Friend of yours, Motomiya?" The yakuza leader asked sardonically.

Instantly snapping back to reality, Daisuke fought down a blush as he introduced the Child of Light to the collected. Hikari nodded haltingly, her own blush also becoming difficult to overcome. She turned to Daisuke slowly.

"Could… could I talk to you for a moment, Daisuke?"

Daisuke paused and blinked. "Is it okay with you guys if I take a few minutes?"

"Well, if you're gonna waste our time, then… ITAI!"

Jun had plowed her fist into the back of the gangster's head. "Let him go, he'll be back in a few moments!"

Daisuke and Hikari blinked as the yakuza boss clutched the back of his head in agony, and then walked off a little for privacy.

"Anou… Daisuke-kun…"

"Hai? What is it, Hikari-chan?"

"I… I wanted to talk about… the other day…" Hikari's face darkened a bit.

"Oh…" Daisuke paused uncomfortably. "Well… honestly, Hikari, I…"

The boy found himself cut off at Hikari's sudden yelp. "Daisuke! Your goggles!"

Looking down, Daisuke noticed that his goggles were damaged. He had forgotten after a while in the high school basement. One of the lenses was completely shattered, and the other had a jagged hole in it. The bullet had been accurate. He had really liked those goggles.

"Oh, just a little scuffle. Nothing to worry about," he laughed. Hikari looked at him briefly, and then she traced her hand over the goggles.

"I'm sorry that they got damaged, Daisuke."

"It's not a problem, Hikari! No one got hurt, and that's something to smile about, right?"

Hikari nodded, smiling a little. Daisuke grinned happily, and Hikari giggled at his expression.

"Well, I guess you're right…"

"You guess? You _guess_! It's about time you realize that I'm _always_ right, Hikari-chan!"

Hikari couldn't help the laughter that flowed from her heart as Daisuke continued his little rant. He finally slowed down, and they looked at each other again. The blush flew up Hikari's neck as she stared at Daisuke's russet eyes. She placed her arms on Daisuke's shoulders and slowly rose up on tiptoe.

Unfortunately, at that moment, one very _bored_ yakuza's voice pierced the area. "Hey, Motomiya! Hurry it up, would ya? I've got better things to do!"

Hikari gave a small yip and jumped back. She stuttered incoherently before she felt Daisuke's hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his smiling face, and her stomach did a small jumping jack. She smiled back haltingly, and Daisuke turned back to the others.

"Well, aren't you rude! Tell me, what exactly do you have to do that is better?" He shouted as he and Hikari walked back.

"…Well, nothing technically better, but I don't want to wait around all day for you to make out with your girlfriend!"

Hikari's eyes went wide as Daisuke's mouth fell open. "G-girlfriend?" she asked blushingly.

Mason snorted as his boss chuckled. "Oops… _my bad_!" Instantly they both roared in agony as Jun sank her knuckles into their skulls.

Instantly the boss advanced on her, no one attacked him more than once and ever lived.

"Just _who_ do you think I am, girl?"

"A punk with a bad hairdo?" Jun smiled, observing the wild scarlet mane that sprang from the gangster's head. Unfortunately, Jun realized that she had said the wrong thing as she stared down the twin barrels of the pistols aimed at her head.

"I'm Okamikaji Akuma, you little bi…"

"Eye of NIGHTMARE!"

The demon froze the two gangsters, and glared angrily at them. Oh, she _so_ wanted to maim them. She couldn't explain it, but the mere idea of anyone but her threatening Jun enraged her.

Hikari stared in fear as the little vampire's mouth grinned wickedly, and screamed when Dracmon sprang.

"Dracmon!" Jun's voice commanded. The vampire fell to the floor, incisors practically within biting range of the lead yakuza.

"Get back here!" Jun ordered. The little vampire seemed to consider following the demand or not. She straightened up, and looked at the gangsters with a strange revulsion.

"If either of you come even close to trying that stunt _again_, I will _neuter_ you. Got it?"

Akuma and Mason stared at her with some overwhelming fear. Dracmon spat at their feet, and then slowly lifted her arm. Rising with it, the yakuza levitated off of the ground until Dracmon made a slashing motion with their arm, flinging the two several feet away.

Bombmon and Popomon wailed unhappily, chasing after their partners. Looking them over, the two baby digimon growled angrily at Dracmon.

"Bomb! Bomb! Bomb!"

"Popopopopo!"

Dracmon turned back with mild interest at the noise. Daisuke and Hikari watched with interest as the two Baby I level digimon began to glow, and in a small burst of energy, they had transformed.

The yakuza stared at their digimon with some bizarre mix of awe and surprise.

"What happened?" Akuma questioned.

"They grew up a little; they can talk now," V-mon explained from a tree branch.

Bombmon, or at least, the digimon who used to be Bombmon nodded. "Yep! I'm Missimon now! Super fast and super strong, too!" Bombmon had gained into a blue missile-like form and floated slightly, upheld by the propulsion from his base.

"And I'm Frimon!" The digimon who had once been Popomon grinned. "Beware my tail!"

Dracmon paused as she took in this information, and then burst into laughter. "Ooh… Now I'm scared!"

"That's it! Missile Crash!" Missimon flew headlong at Dracmon. The vampire's eyes widened in surprise; Missimon was as fast as he claimed. She glared at the incoming warhead. She leapt to the side of the path, dodging the projectile only barely.

"Waah!" Missimon wailed as he continued along his linear flight path. Dracmon stared blankly at Missimon as he cut off his own ignition, and plummeted down to earth. He slowly realigned himself in midair, restarted his engine, and shot toward Dracmon, who dodged him again.

"Not FAIR!" Missimon yelled in anguish.

Dracmon sniggered a little as Mason palmed himself in the face. Caught unawares, she suddenly went flying off to the side. Recovering in midair, Dracmon landed softly in the dirt as she surveyed her opponent. Frimon glared back evenly, tail swishing around. Popomon's tail had been replaced with one of a more leonine form. The excessive amounts of hair had shrunk back to what appeared to be the neck, extending and coalescing into a mane-like frill, again, like that of a lion. Even the face was leonine, with the ears, eyes, and fanged mouth of the great cat.

"Like I said before, watch out for my tail!"

Dracmon watched closely as Frimon charged toward her with tiny hops, spinning like a top each time. Frimon closed the gap between himself and the vampire, and just as the final blow was about to be struck, Frimon stopped moving.

"Woah… what is _that?_" He asked, looking at a butter-fly with awe. He twitched once, tapping it with his tail. "Awesome!" he laughed. He began to chase the butter-fly over the field, as Missimon attempted to free himself from a tree he had lodged himself into.

Akuma and Mason stared at their partners in exasperation, as Akina began to chuckle, and Jing rolled his eyes. Daisuke barely noticed Puffmon was missing, when he noticed a fox-like creature on Akina's shoulder.

"Hiya!" it smiled joyfully. "The name's Kyaromon! Now, if you'll excuse me…"

Daisuke and Hikari smiled bemusedly as Kyaromon began to play with Missimon (who had released himself) and Frimon (who lost the butter-fly). V-mon was sleeping, perched on the tree branch, and Dracmon was pouting in the corner. They looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

"Well, this is getting exciting!" Daisuke smiled. Hikari nodded happily, and the red tint came slowly back to her cheeks as she was walked home.


	4. Holiday Spirit

"_Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke was _not _happy.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! Wake up, you lazy pile of Nihonjin trash! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke was _not_ in the _slightest bit_ pleased.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! It's time to face the day, silly snoozer! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke was nearing the point where he would temporarily lose his grip. On reality.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! Get up, lazy bones! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke's hand flew out and smacked the alarm clock that continued its unending glee. After a pause, Daisuke's hand drooped back down, and Daisuke's eyes closed contently.

"_...Hah Hah Hah!! My snooze button is broken! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke's eyes snapped open. That did it. He reached over to where his soccer ball rested (on the bedside table; it was never far away), and flung it at the source of the aggravating laughter, knocking it off the desk with a crash. Daisuke resumed his slumber after a recess of the noise.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! You didn't honestly think that would work, did you? Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke's eyes reopened instantly, now fully bloodshot. He jolted up from the bed, lifted the comforter from its position, and wrapped it around the annoying, pink "Happy Cat" alarm clock he had received for his birthday a few months before. Complete with demonically happy smile, it was probably the worst thing he had received. Why he still had it? Well, Hikari had given it to him, and he would never get rid of it, no mater how annoying it was.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! Try again, child of Courage! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Not even muffling the damned thing had worked. Held in by three layers of thick covering, somehow it had turned its own volume up to be heard. Daisuke wrapped the mass within his pillowcase, and shoved it in his closet, finally lying back down on his bare pillow.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! You **FAIL**, Child of Friendship! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke moaned in agony. It was only 6:45! He shouldn't be awake for another _hour_, at least! Well, in retrospect, that ideology had probably been the reason _why_ this thing had been given to him. Honestly, he could use an alarm clock, but he could do without the "_Hah Hah Hah!!"_ every two seconds.

"_Daisuke!!_ Turn that bleeping thing OFF!!!" his mother screeched from her room.

"I'm TRYING, Kaasan!!"

"_Hah Hah Hah!! Maybe so, but you can't even come close!! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke glared at his closet door. He opened it, grabbed his pillowcase and unloaded it, and he unwrapped the feline alarm clock from the folds of his blanket. Setting on his desk before his window, he stared hard at it. Unfortunately, the volume had still been turned up, so…

"_HAH HAH HAH!! SO, GIVE UP YET, BOY? HAH HAH HAH!!"_

Daisuke fell over. Plugging his ears, he only slightly managed to drown out the cacophony of both the alarm clock's and his mom's high pitched screeching. He dove for his bedside table, where he fumbled around with his elbows until he found the device he had been searching for. An oblong device. He grinned triumphantly at the cat, which had stopped its tirade for a moment, as if it was curious.

"See this, clock? This is what's gonna be your _end_!!"

Daisuke dove for the clock, turning down the volume to its former amplitude.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! What 'cha gonna do with that? Hit me with it? Hah Hah Hah!!"_

The spiky haired teenager smiled happily, and shouted, "V-mon! Digimental UP!!"

V-mon, who had been watching from the sidelines, laughed heartily as he felt the changes begin.

"Moegaru Yuuki… Fladramon!!" Now, larger, lither, and _far_ more lethal, the dragon toward over the grinning clock.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! What, do you think I'm scared of YOU?! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Fladramon clasped his gauntlets together, and they began to glow at the tip.

"Fire Rocket!!!"

Residents of Odaiba, startled at the sound of an explosion, looked around wildly for its source. When they realized that it had come from the nearby apartment complex, and the smoke it was issuing, they relaxed visibly. It was just Daisuke.

Inside, Daisuke and Fladramon watched patiently as smoke billowed out the window. As the smog cleared, Daisuke groaned audibly at the sight of the wreckage of his desk.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! I'm fire retardant, you asinine lizard!! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Fladramon cried out in exasperation. Executing a complex martial arts technique, he flung the beastly machine into the air, and then plowed his claws into it.

"Claw Express!!"

The alarm clock hurtled through the air, out the window, and out of sight.

"_Hah Hah Hah!! I'm not done with you yet, boy! Hah Hah Hah!!"_

Daisuke smiled victoriously, shooting a rude hand sign out the window. He curled up in his bed, smiling happily.

"Daisuke, time to get up!"

Well, that was short lived. Daisuke hopped out of bed, and trudged to the bathroom, splashing his face with water.

"Daisuke, where are you?!"

"Washing!!"

"Well, hurry it up! Hikari-san's here!"

Instantly, Daisuke finished cleaning up, and began to hurtle around his room.

"Daisuke!!"

"Let me get my pants on, at least!"

Finally, sufficiently dressed, Daisuke jumped over to the kitchen, where he chugged a glass of orange juice, and shoved a slice of toast in his mouth. He walked to the front door, and glared at his laughing mother. He turned to the front door and smiled warmly at the brown haired, blushing girl before him.

It took Daisuke a few moments to remember that his ideas of being sufficiently dressed for interaction with other humans did not _quite_ meet the standards of his friend. He grinned sheepishly, running back to his room to throw on a dark green turtleneck.

"Ack! V-mon!! Come back with my shoes, you little…" Daisuke began to chase the little blue dragon around.

"Gotcha!! I'm taking _this_ out of your chocolate allowance!"

"Huh?! No fair!"

Daisuke snorted, and slipped his shoes on. He stood up, and walked to the front door, where Hikari was waiting, very patiently, for him.

"Sorry, 'bout that, 'Kari-chan!" he grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Daisuke!" She blushed. "You promised!"

The spiky haired teenager grinned as he shut the front door with his foot, and walked along beside Hikari. "I know, I know! Can I help it if you're so cute?"

"…Yes!"

"You're no fun…" Daisuke pouted. Hikari grinned at his expression, and pressed her lips against his cheek softly.

"Oh, yes I am!" she giggled as Daisuke's face became one of confusion.

"…Hey!" Too late. Hikari was already on the opposite end of the hallway, laughing happily as Daisuke chased after her. She led him down the stairway (the elevator was out of order ever since V-mon had introduced Frimon to the concept of riding up and down in a metal box) and out the door, laughing happily.

Her escape was in vain, however, for Daisuke had managed to catch her not all that later after she had crossed the street and entered the park. Well, _catch_ is a bit of an understatement; tackled to the ground and tickled mercilessly is more like it.

"Daisuke! Stop!!" she wailed. He relented, and rolled over in the 2 foot deep snow (there had been a generous snowfall last night), and sunk to the ground. Sadly, although the snow was fluffy, it was not very well bonded, and immediately collapsed atop the boy.

Hikari blinked at the sudden disappearance of her friend. Suddenly, there was an explosion of snow beside her, and a sudden mass appeared, thrashing about wildly. The girl screamed wildly. The loud noise continued, but it began to take on a more repetitive quality. It was a moment before Daisuke realized that Hikari was indeed screaming… in mirth.

The girl keeled over, her laughter preventing her from balancing herself. Daisuke blinked confusedly. Was this the same girl who had been so shy around him not two days ago? Maybe… maybe now, in the snow…

"Hikari-chan?" he whispered softly. The girl paused in her delight, at slowly sat up. Her face was red, but only partially from the cold.

"S-sorry," she mumbled. She quickly regained her composure, and sat up straight.

"I'm sorry, Daisuke-kun." Hikari sat very still, but the effort was becoming more and more difficult, considering the snow was seeping through her outfit, and chilling her already-soon-to-be numb bottom.

"Not a problem, Hikari-chan," Daisuke chuckled. He noticed she was shivering slightly, and wrapped his arms around her midsection. She squealed as he hoisted her into his lap.

"D-d-d-Daisuke-k-kun!!" she shivered. Oh, how she wished she had worn another layer, she was so cold! Suddenly disregarding formality, she pressed up against the soccer player, blushing slightly at their proximity.

"S-sorry… it's j-j-just s-so…"

Daisuke shushed her. "Don't worry. C'mon, let's go hit the café, grab some hot chocolate, seize the day, carpe diem and all that." He lifted her out of the snow, refusing to let her free, trudged through the snow, and set her down on the slick sidewalk.

"Shall we?" he chuckled, offering her his arm. She took it, laughing happily.

They arrived at the local coffee shop after a decent five minutes of slip-sliding around. Panting heavily, faces red, and leaning against one another for support, the pair stumbled into the café and made it over to the counter, where a mildly harassed-looking waitress escorted them to an empty table.

"Let me guess… I'm sure you want two hot chocolates, right?"

Daisuke nodded happily with a laugh, while Hikari brushed some excess snow off of her jacket.

"That'll do, thank you." And with that, the waitress disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Daisuke and Hikari in silence.

"Yo, Hikari-chan?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering… Would you mind very much if I asked you…"

"Hmm?"

Hikari blinked. Daisuke wasn't usually like this; his confidence must've been somewhere else today, which was strange.

Before he got any further, though, the waitress had reappeared, and placed two steaming mugs of cocoa between them. She straightened up for a moment, tilting her head to the side.

"I don't suppose you've looked up yet?"

With a small smile, the waitress disappeared again. Daisuke blinked, looked up, and saw why Hikari had buried her head in her arms. Mistletoe. Oh, Joy.

"That waitress must be enjoying herself immensely, don't you think so?"

Hikari nodded slowly, peeking at Daisuke a little. He had finished maybe half of his drink, and now sported a unique mustache of brown liquid. Despite her best efforts, she burst into a fit of giggles. The spiky-haired boy rolled his eyes at her, and took another sip of his drink, which tasted mildly of mint. When the giggles had subsided, Daisuke let the silence settle in for a moment. And then…

"So… do you want to… uh, well…"

Hikari blushed hotly, and shrugged. Daisuke scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and stood up. He walked over to Hikari, and lifted her out of the chair.

"Well…?"

Hikari sighed, and looked up at Daisuke. Normally, she would just shrug it off as something platonic, but… Well, recently, things with Daisuke had been confused. It wasn't like she didn't _want_ to kiss the boy, but she… She just… oh, screw it.

Daisuke was caught off guard by Hikari's sudden movement. It took him a few moments to realize that he was being kissed by his childhood crush. But that was all it took, and he gave her an equal return.

Soon, though, they broke apart, partially, due to lack of oxygen, and partially due to the catcalls. Daisuke chuckled sheepishly, and placed enough yen for both the bill, and a noticeably generous tip for the waitress on the table. He led Hikari out the door, and into the snow.

Eventually, after a few hours of walking and playing in the snow, they found themselves at Hikari's doorstep. The sun was setting, and both were sporting a few pounds of snow in their hair, shoulders, and pockets.

The silence soon became unbearable.

"So, I'll be seeing you, okay?"

"Yeah…"

Daisuke sighed, and turned away, beginning to walk down the hallway.

"Ah! Matte, Daisuke-kun!"

The boy paused, and Hikari blushed.

"You don't have to go. Really! You can stay… It's okay…"

"Uh, well, I wouldn't want to impose…"

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on. Get over here, you."

Daisuke blinked, and approached Hikari slowly, as he would V-mon on a sugar rush.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a little let down."

"Um… why?"

Hikari stared at him accusingly.

"Well, I just hoped you wouldn't mind spending a little more time with me."

Daisuke blinked again. Was he missing something?

"Usually, you'll do anything to get rid of me. Now you don't want me to go?"

"Is that a problem?"

Daisuke chuckled. "Not at all, my dear!"

Suddenly, he'd embraced her in a hug, and began to laugh. He hoisted her off the ground and spun her around in a circle. She managed to get the door open, which allowed them to spill inside.

Hikari, still laughing, shut the door, and turned back to Daisuke. He wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a small Eskimo kiss. She nuzzled him in return, and they plopped onto the couch.

"Hey, Hikari-chan?"

"Yes, Daisuke-kun?"

"Tell me, did you let Miyako help you decorate this year?"

"Yes. Why?"

Daisuke was looking up at the ceiling, with an odd expression on his face. Hikari followed his gaze, and sighed. She turned to Daisuke, who had faced her again.

He blinked at the expectant expression on her face, and chuckled.

"You want one that badly, huh?"

"Well, it is tradition."

"True enough, Hikari-chan!"

And with that, Daisuke lent over, and kissed the girl in his arms. She shivered (not from the cold), and gripped his arms softly. She pressed against him, and suddenly, he found himself pinned between Hikari and the arm of the sofa.

Eventually, they finished, and Hikari reached over to a basket by the sofa. She drew out a blanket, and covered them both. She sighed happily, and nuzzled Daisuke warmly.

"A little bit much for just '_Tradition_', ne?"

He couple turned, and found themselves face to face with a very smug Tailmon.


	5. Rift

The warm spring morning filtered softly into Hikari's room, kissing the hand drooping out from beneath the bed covers. With a light sigh, Hikari shifted sleepily and blinked open her eyes.

There was no snow outside. It was April, and flowers were blooming. That meant that her moment with Daisuke had been a dream. A wonderful, wonderful (albeit a little fast-paced) dream. And now that beautiful moment was gone to—

"_Hel–lo_, Hikari!" sang Taichi as he practically burst through the door. The middle-schooler groaned unhappily and buried her head into her pillow.

"The world _sucks_," she muttered into the fluffy object.

"Aww," cooed her elder brother (she could just imagine the "brotherly" grin stretching across his face), "Did you have a bad dream?"

"No," said Hikari. "A _good_ one. A very, very _good_ one."

"Sorry, kiddo, the real world calls." And, with that, Taichi grabbed the blanket, comforter, and sheet, and, in one motion, yanked them off her bed and threw them across the room.

"Aww, Taichi," she whined. "Why'd'ja have to do that?"

"Because," said her older brother, "there's someone special here to see you, and I figured I might as well test the waters. Good thing I did, too, or else Daisuke might have seen you in those Hello Kitty pajamas."

Hikari, who had been ignoring her brother by wrapping her head in the pillow suddenly jolted up. "What do you mean, _Daisuke?!_ And you didn't tell me this first, _why_?!"

Taichi grinned (as only he could) as his sister ran around the room. "I was having too much fun."

"Out!" screamed Hikari. "Get out!"

Now that she was awake, Hikari had begun to throw various objects at the "intruder" posing as her brother. These include, but were not limited to, the pillow, her backpack, her schoolbooks, and various things on her desk, like papers, pencils, the cans holding the pencils, pairs of scissors (Hikari had given up on using safety scissors several years ago), and you get the idea.

Laughing his fool head off, Tai ran out into the hallway, slamming the door behind him. Safe from danger, he strolled cheerily down the hallway, not hearing the door open behind him.

"Hey, Taichi!"

"Yeah, what is i —" CLANG.

Hikari had just thrown her art project from last year – the centerpiece of which consisted of a food can filled with lead – at Taichi, scoring a bull's-eye on his forehead.

In the main hallway, Daisuke Motomiya listened to what was essentially a tradition in the Yagami household with a growing chuckle. He watched as Taichi ran into the room panting like he had just escaped from some ferocious predator.

"So, is she up?" he asked conversationally, looking innocent when Tai looked up at him with a light glare.

"Oh, she's up, alright. _Sheez…_"

Daisuke couldn't help but laugh. He was sitting calmly on the couch in the living room of the Yagami household, waiting for Hikari. He looked up when she finally emerged from the hallway leading to her room.

"Ready to go, Sleepyhead?"

"Ready to go… where?" asked Hikari bemusedly.

"Oh, I don't know. How about, say, the science fair that Miyako has ordered us to attend on the pain of a gruesome death?"

Hikari blanched. "Oh, _shoot!_ I completely forgot!"

"…Whoops," Daisuke quipped, earning a light glare from the younger Hikari sibling. "So, ready to go?"

"How on earth are we going to get there on time?" demanded Hikari. "There's no way!"

"Hikari, Hikari, Hikari," chided Daisuke. "You forget that I happen to be partnered with Lighdramon."

As if on cue, the quadruped barked out a happy greeting from the other side of the door.

"You mean he's right _outside_? Daisuke! How long has he been waiting?" Hikari said with a laugh.

"Well, I kinda expected you to be up already."

Hikari, as mature as she was, found no better retort than to stick her tongue out at her friend.

"You know, Hikari, if you stick that worm out, you _are_ inviting a fish to bite."

**That worked rather well**, Daisuke thought with a smile as Hikari blushed and instantly pulled her tongue back in. "Now, let's go. Miyako's going to bury us for being late, I have no doubt, but it's better that we show up late rather than not at all. I have a soccer game tomorrow, and I'd prefer to have both my legs in complete working order, if it's all the same to you."

Hikari couldn't help but giggle as he led her out the door to where Lighdramon was standing.

"And I thought Daisuke was a heavy sleeper," chuckled the dragon. "Is Tailmon coming?"

"Hey! Wait up!" Tailmon came bounding out the door with a harried look on her normally reserved face.

"What happened to you?" asked Lighdramon as Daisuke helped Hikari onto the former's back.

"Hikari the Tired forgot to bring me."

Tailmon leapt onto the shoulders of the armored beast gracefully and sat down at the base of his neck while Daisuke clambered on behind Hikari, who blushed a little as he reached forward under her arms to grab the bridle-rings attached to the armor.

"Is this okay? We'll need to go pretty fast to get there, and I don't want you falling off," said Daisuke.

"Yes, it's fine," said Hikari, touched that he was being considerate, but then… "Wait. How fast is 'pretty fast'?"

Daisuke smiled mischievously and tightened his grip. "Don't you know, Hikari-chan? Lighdramon has three speeds: Stopped, Fast, and '_Whoawhatwasthat?_'."

"And 'pretty fast' means the third one?"

"Bingo. Hold on tight."

Hikari needed no second bidding, and squeezed her arms around Daisuke's. Tailmon however, chose to point something out.

"Daisuke? We're on a high level of the apartment complex, and there's no way we can fit in either the stairs or in the elevator. How on earth are we – oh, no. No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't dare—"

"We would," said Lighdramon with a practically audible grin. "Oh, we _would_."

The girls paled and screamed as Lighdramon lunged down the hallway, building up speed until he leapt over the banister.

Hikari froze as she felt the wind whipping at her face. This was so very _different_ than flying on Nefertimon, whose two large, graceful wings assured flight – Lighdramon had no wings to speak of. At all. She squirmed for a moment, and then she felt Daisuke's arms holding her firmly, and then he smiled at her, and then she didn't feel even remotely scared.

In fact, she felt really rather thrilled, now.

Gracefully, Lighdramon landed atop the nearest building, and continued forward as though he was gliding. Hikari and Tailmon hadn't felt even a hint of the impact – like a roller coaster, Lighdramon surged across rooftops and through the air effortlessly. And then there was Daisuke, who gripped the dragon's bridle-rings fiercely, his chest pressed slightly against Hikari's back, grinning with that thrill of speed.

He glanced down at Hikari after catching her looking at him, and they exchanged a slight, thrilled smile.

"Do you want to go faster?" he whispered into her ear, and then he smiled when she nodded timorously.

"Hey, Lighdramon, kick it up a notch! Hold on, Tailmon!"

Tailmon's squeak of terror was drowned out by Lighdramon's roar, and suddenly they were moving even faster, the wind lashing against them. Following Daisuke's movements, Hikari leaned forward as far as she could go, indicating to Tailmon that she should do the same.

All too soon, Hikari could see the school approaching, and Lighdramon slowed . Effortlessly, the dragon came to a halt.

"Not too bumpy, I hope," said the Blue Storm as Daisuke helped the female passengers down. "I usually don't run with more than one passenger."

"That was _amazing_," breathed Hikari, who was still trying to balance herself. "No wonder Daisuke loves it so much."

"How about you, Tailmon? You okay?" asked Daisuke as Hikari picked up the feline digimon.

"Shaken, not stirred," quipped the white cat, slightly dizzily. "Next time, give me some advance warning, though."

"No problem," chuckled Daisuke. "Although we might avoid stuff like this entirely if you got up on time."

"Oh, shut up," Hikari giggled, elbowing Daisuke playfully.

"Okay, okay. Now you two go on inside, I'll catch up in a minute."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Hikari.

"Nunna yur beeswax,**" **laughed Daisuke. "Sheesh, Hikari, usually you do your best to get rid of me, now you can't seem to get enough."

"_What?_" Hikari gasped good-humoredly. "You total _chauvinist_! Fine, do whatever you want. It's not my problem if Miyako pounds you flat."

"I love you, too, 'Kari-chan," Daisuke laughed, not noticing Hikari's sudden blush.

Still keeping up with the game, Hikari turned sharply on her heel with a small "Humph" and marched inside, hiding her smile at Daisuke's continued laughter.

Once she was inside, Daisuke turned to Lighdramon with a serious face. "Okay, big guy, you know what to do."

"Yep! Make rounds around the city and check up on Jun and the others, remind them about the meeting later today, and roam to try and find other eggs and D-Braces. Anything else?"

"Yeah, don't stop for more than three cookies. Now get going!" Daisuke laughed and gestured to the side, watching Lighdramon leap and lunge away over buildings and into the distance of the morning city horizon.

"Hungry?" called someone from the steps.

"You buzzed?" joked Daisuke as he turned to see Hikari holding a tray with some food.

He quickly ascended the steps until he stood beside her, thanking her for the food she bought and fishing around in his pocket to pay her back until she stopped him with her own hand.

"I wanted to get you something," she said with a small smile. "You know, to pay you back."

Daisuke laughed. "You don't have to pay me back, Hikari," he said. "Not now, not ever."

His face became calm and warm as he said the last four words , and Hikari made the mistake of looking into his eyes. There was a second in which she couldn't do anything but stare at him, and then she caught herself.

"Fine, then," she said. "Next time, you can buy the breakfast for two."

"You mean that's actually a _possibility_?" asked Daisuke, bewildered.

"Maybe," said Hikari with a smile. "Now, are you going to eat something, or not?"

Daisuke laughed, and took the tray from her. "_Maybe_," he chuckled. "And maybe I'll just eat the whole thing."

"Oh, no, you don't!" said Hikari, chasing him down the hallway. Even when he was being lighthearted, he was still faster than her. Every time she got close, he would dodge to the side or behind her. In less than five minutes, she found herself worn out, whereas Daisuke was as fresh as he had been when their game of tag started.

"How… How do you _do_ it?" she managed to gasp out.

"Well," said Daisuke as he helped her over to a wall. "Not lunging around like a girl in a bad romance movie help– _ouch!_"

"Jerk," giggled Hikari. "I was not lunging around like some girl in a bad romance movie!"

"You only say that because no one filmed it."

"Quiet, you. Gimme that cereal box." Before he could keep it from her, Hikari's hand jabbed forward and snatched the item from the tray. "And you, Mr. Chivalry, can keep holding that."

Daisuke laughed. "Fine, fine. Let's just go before 'Yako-chan blows her stack."

Hikari giggled and walked down the highway beside Daisuke. "So, what was that you wanted with Lighdramon?"

"I told you, it's none of your business! Sheesh, girl. Maybe I shoulda just let you sleep in!"

"Oh, please," said Hikari as they entered the gymnasium. "Like you would've given up on a chance to spend time with me."

Daisuke snorted. "You'd be surprised. Ah, here we are! How lovely you look today, Mi-"

"WHERE WERE YOU?" demanded a psychotically enraged girl, her already formidable eyes magnified to terrifying proportions by her glasses. "You're LATE!"

The purple-haired girl stormed towards Daisuke ("stormed" being more accurate a term than one might think) and began to prod him hard in the chest with her pen.

"You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago! Helping me out! Remember?"

"Well, wherever we _were_, we're here now, right, Hikari-chan?"

"We're sorry, Miyako-chan."

Miyako looked suspiciously at the two of them. "Whatever. Daisuke, go help Iori guard the stand, would you? Huh? Oh, fine, you can finish eating. But hurry, dangit! Go, man! If you want to see tomorrow, go!"

Daisuke walked off laughing, and Hikari watched him go – a mistake, she realized, as Miyako noticed her glance.

"So…" said Miyako, her voice trailing off dangerously. "Wherever was 'wherever you _were'_, 'Kari-chan?"

"Eh? E-Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't play coy with me. What were you and Daisuke doing that was so important that you were late?"

"N-nothing! I just slept in, that's all – _no, we did not_! How could you even _think_ that? This is Daisuke we're talking about! He wouldn't do that! I… why are you grinning at me like that?"

"'Cause your face is red," said Miyako with a grin. "Methinks you've been up to something with the fearless wonder over there."

Hikari followed Miyako's pointing finger to over where Daisuke was talking with Iori, Ken, and Takeru. They were all laughing at something Daisuke had said.

"Well," said Hikari. "Whatever you're thinking is wrong, because what happened was I accidentally slept in late – or maybe you've forgotten who spent most of last night helping you with that… thing." She vaguely gestured at Miyako's science project, an object of obscure form and purpose. "Daisuke dropped by to see what was keeping me, and then we rode Lighdramon here."

"So, he shared his steed with you?" teased Miyako. "What, is he your loyal knight?"

"Miyako, do you want help or not?" said Hikari tiredly. "'Cause I didn't come here so you could tease me."

"Alright, alright," said Miyako, still smiling to herself. "Just help me move this over to…"

The science convention was actually a lot more fun than what Daisuke had been expecting. Ken was, actually, competing against Miyako, which he used as the ground for a number of jokes and funny one-liners, most having something to do with the starting of a third World War if they (Daisuke, Takeru, and Iori) so much as considered switching sides.

It had been about an hour when Daisuke said he was going to take a walk around, to stretch his legs. He strolled through the door into the hall and pulled out his D-Terminal. He flipped it open and pulled up the message that had just arrived from one of the others.

He quickly glanced at it and chuckled a little. It looked like Jing had gotten himself a partner, too. What was it called? Oh, KoKabuterimon. Akina had even sent a picture. Daisuke looked at the bulky, blue insect, surprised a little at how its eyes reminded him of Tentomon. Well, looks like he was expected to make a visit, and if that was the case…

"Daisuke!"

The spiky-haired boy burst into laughter. "Lighdramon! You're not supposed to walk around the halls like that, Nimrod!"

"Nimrod, yourself," said the dragon, standing in the middle of the hall as though it were perfectly natural for large, somewhat-equine dragons to traverse the grounds of an Odaiba public school. "Come on – Mason found something important out."

"And if I leave now, Miyako will annihilate me, remember?" Daisuke grunted.

"Daisuke, you're the only one of the Chosen who's used three Digimentals–"

"Four, if you count that incident with Pukumon."

"Yeah, okay. Any way, you've used more Digimentals than any of the others, one of which was the Golden Digimental; you were the only one who withstood BelialVamdemon; you're the captain of the football team, for crying out loud, and you're afraid of _Miyako_?!"

"Well," said Daisuke with a slight smile, "I prefer to think of it as a sense of self-preservation rather than _fear_."

"Fear? Fear of what?"

"Gah! Hikari, don't DO that!"

"Sorry," giggled the Child of Light. "I saw an opportunity, and I seized it."

"'_Seized_' is right," muttered Daisuke. "_Seized_ the situation, made my heart _seize_ up…"

Hikari sniggered at his expression. "So, whatcha up to?"

Daisuke shrugged nonchalantly. "I have something to do, so Lighdramon came here to pick me up."

"Would that 'something' have something to do with… them?" Hikari asked quietly as Daisuke mounted Lighdramon's back.

"Yep," said Daisuke conversationally. "New Digimon and Brace."

"Daisuke, you know that–"

"Hikari, I told you," Daisuke said pointedly. "I don't care whether or not the gang doesn't like them."

"Daisuke, two of them are gangsters – _bad guys_ – and one's a thief, remember? We hardly know them!"

"Well," said Daisuke with a smile, "whoever's in charge of handing out the digivices thinks that they've got what it takes. And, hey, wasn't Ken a psychopath before we beat him? He's a part of the team, isn't he?"

"But, Daisuke–!"

Daisuke didn't stay to listen. He tapped his feet sharply against Lighdramon's sides, and the dragon turned and sped away from her. The dragon didn't bother to mind about the double doors, and with a crash, both doors were thrown open with a bang, and then shut slowly on their own, leaving a sad Hikari looking through the windows.


	6. Broken

It was only the matter of a moment for Lighdramon to find the group in the park. Jun, Akuma, Mason, Akina, and Jing were waiting patiently, and apparently had been for some time.

"Hey, guys!" said Daisuke as he hopped easily off of his steed. "What's new?"

Jing, silent as ever, merely offered a toss of his head at a newer member of the group.

"Well, hi, there!" said Daisuke cheerily. "Nice to meet you."

A massive, almost hulking, blue bug monster stared quietly at Daisuke in response, not even twitching as the boy offered his hand. The only movement that came was from the red scarf about his neck.

"Not much of a speaker, eh?" ("Surprise, surprise," muttered Lighdramon). "Ah, well. So, what else is going down?" he asked, turning to Jun and Akuma.

"We want to know what's up, actually," said the gangster, not once moving from where he slouched.

Jun attempted to explain, but Akuma cut her off.

"Here we are, happy as you please, waiting for who knows how long for something to DO. How do we even know that we're needed?"

"Yeah!" growled Leormon impatiently (Frimon and the others had achieved their Child forms in the month since they first arrived). "I want some action!"

Daisuke could understand the urge. "Well—"

KABOOM.

Daisuke glanced mildly towards the smoke now rising into the air from Odaiba's central district, and then back towards the young lion cub and his human partner, who, to his satisfaction, were now looking rather wary. "First lesson of being Chosen," he said as the assembled watched him pull himself atop Lighdramon, "never, EVER, ask for more action – when wishes like that come true, you've generally bitten off a good sight more than what you're able to chew."

__________

The central district of Odaiba was its pride and joy: a bustling metropolis with sky-high superstores, office buildings, and every kind of urban resource imaginable. This truly was a hub of world commerce. Which was currently obscured by smoke, wreckage, and terrified screams.

Daisuke and Lighdramon were first on the scene, with the lightning dragon leaping easily from piles of rubble to more of the same.

"Wow," muttered Daisuke. "Somebody wants to make a show, huh?"

Lighdramon snorted in agreement. "Yeah. Shakespeare does Apocalypse."

The charger alighted atop a particularly high mound, moving to see what the cause of the destruction was.

"V-Shot!!"

Something heavy crashed mercilessly into the charger, causing it to roar in agony. Lighdramon and Daisuke were launched into the air, smashing painfully into the ground. The shock was enough to rip V-mon free of his armor, and, small as he now was, send him spiraling away.

Woozily, with his head throbbing as though someone was using it for the percussion section of an orchestra, V-mon pushed himself to his feet. He glanced around and discovered that his head was still reeling – either that, or the buildings were all waving hello. The little dragon shook his head and looked around – good, the buildings weren't being so friendly anymore.

Suddenly, V-mon stumbled backwards: Where was Daisuke?!

Charging forward, V-mon glanced left and right, searching for his friend and companion.

There!

With an easy leap (though far beyond the bounds of human legs), V-mon sprang over a pile of rubble and landed easily beside him. "Daisuke? Daisuke!"

Motomiya Daisuke wasn't moving. He was lying sprawled across the stones and iron debris in a manner that V-mon knew for a fact he would never be able to stand normally. Blood was leaking from the corner of his mouth, and it trailed in small runlets across his face from his hairline. His expression was chillingly slack.

V-mon was silent for a very long time. Quiet and unmoving, he stared at the body of his friend. And through it all, only one thought kept running through his head.

Motomiya Daisuke should not be dead.

Something seemed to change all of a sudden: V-mon had always thought that when people died, it was usually a cause for people to break down – to wrap themselves in an unquenchable rage or to do the same with sadness. V-mon felt neither, or, at least, neither so strongly. Instead, he was experiencing a moment of extraordinary clarity and salience.

Clarity and salience and an unmistakable craving for revenge.

"Ooh," said a voice, and by its mild, almost disinterested tone, V-mon knew it was the guilty one. "Humans _are_ fragile, aren't they? I'd figured he was tougher than that; to be honest, I was told to watch out for him. Oh, what's the line…? I guess the reports were greatly exaggerated."

V-mon looked back over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the attacker. Sitting lazily atop a nearby pile of rubble, V-mon discovered a small monster with two arms, two legs, a head almost comically large for his body, with a golden chevron across its forehead pointing towards the small horn, extending from the top of its muzzle.

If not for the flagrantly black color in place of his own blue, V-mon might've thought he'd had a long-lost twin. Perhaps he did. As if it mattered.

"Yo," said the black V-mon, tossing a lazy peace-sign into the air and offering an upbeat grin. "How's it going?"

V-mon, still looking over his shoulder, indicated the inert body beside him with a jerk of his head. "You did this?"

"Not intentionally," admitted the black stranger with an indifferent shrug. "I wasn't trying to, well, _break_ him so thoroughly. I'd just wanted this."

He lifted his other hand, showing the small, blue, cell-phone-like device in his hand. "Cool, huh? They say there's enough power in this baby to split the world apart."

V-mon had gone very still, and lowered his head slightly. His eyes became obscured in shadow. "Give it back. It's not yours."

"What'll that do?" asked the black stranger curiously. "He can't use it anymore… can he?"

He regarded the body lying across the debris mildly, like a scientist studying some kind of bacteria culture. "Doesn't look like it to me."

V-mon looked up. "What do you want?" he repeated.

The black V-mon chuckled. "I just said, didn't I? This thing: Motomiya's D-3." He paused for a beat, and then continued. "I was told this would be an excellent meal."

Without warning, the black V-mon tilted his head back and swallowed the D-3 whole. He looked back and smiled. "Wow, it _does_ taste good."

Suddenly, he began to glow. His eyes glazed for a moment, and he muttered something to himself.

It was like an explosion: V-mon felt as though his heart had been torn asunder. With a wild, savage scream, he flung himself, a low-flung, blue rocket, toward the growing mass of black. He hurtled into the enemy like a bullet into a hard-boiled egg.

__________

Leormon heartily wished he could take back what he'd said earlier – he did NOT want to fight the beast that had torn up the district as though Main Street were a long strip of paper and the buildings were made of Styrofoam.

"Incredible," muttered Commandramon, from behind him. The soldier dragon that had once been Missimon was looking around with a stunned look plastered across his face. "What monster did this?"

Akuma and Mason were silent, quietly assessing the damage. Jing, his face still, was staying very close to Akina, who did not seem to mind the invasion of personal space, while Kudamon – the white, serpentine fox covered in purple markings that had grown from Kyaromon – was draped about her shoulders, glancing around for some sign of threat. Kokabuterimon was brushing aside the larger rocks – some twice his size in diameter – so easily, it seemed as if they were almost weightless, clearing a path.

"I concur with Commandramon," Kudamon was saying. "The manner of creature that wreaked this devastation should not be taken lightly."

"Maybe they skipped town," offered Dracmon, though she, understandably, received no reply. It hadn't been that good a joke, anyway.

Jun was a few feet ahead of the group, glancing around worriedly. "Daisuke?" she called. "Daisuke, where are you?"

Something wasn't right – Daisuke should've been there with them. He'd disappeared so quickly, Jun hadn't had time to tell him off for leaving them behind. The bad feeling in her gut was swelling magnificently, and continued to do so with each step.

Jun had never been a part of Daisuke's other life, or, at least, that's what she called it, before. Having been called to join it had been cool at first, though now, the flip side of it was unsettling her stomach.

She jumped violently as a wicked bellow rent the silence, followed by a thunderclap-like crash. The wall of debris a few yards in front of her exploded into smoke and cinder, and within the dark cloud, two figures could be seen clashing with each other. The one that caught Jun's attention was nearly two stories tall, and seemed to be trying to rid itself of the smaller, only a few feet tall, which was tearing into it with absurd ferocity.

The smoke was slowly clearing around them, and Jun stumbled back in shock. V-mon, simple, carefree, chocolate-loving, tiny-little V-mon was viciously throwing punches that could shatter stone at the huge beast: a massive, black version of himself with large wings and a horn like a meat cleaver, trying to batter every inch and ounce of flesh.

The others also noticed this change.

"Go V-mon!" called Leormon, who had immediately switched from nervous being energetic. "Show him who's boss!"

V-mon gave no sign that he'd heard, but continued to strike at his monstrous mirror-image.

"Commandramon," said Mason, "what _is_ that thing?"

"An XV-mon," declared the soldier dragon. "Legendary enough in their own right from rarity, they are incredible beasts of battle and ancient in heritage."

"Indeed," added Kudamon, who'd left his post across Akina's shoulders to join Commandramon, "but this one seems to be especially rare – I've never heard of a black one before."

"How would _you_ know?" said Akuma wryly. "You guys were born maybe a month and a half ago, right? How could you possibly know anything like that?"

"Oh, shut up, you loud-mouthed piece of meat," growled Dracmon from her seat atop a nearby phone pole. "Information like that is written into our cores. It's a cultural memory; retention as heritage, if you want to put it like that. Some have more than others, but it can be made up by hearing enough of it."

Akuma looked as though he would retaliate, but the general context of V-mon's battle seemed to deter him. "So… what's our plan of action?"

"Get to Daisuke," said Jun immediately. "Get the scoop." ("The scoop?" said Akuma "What, are you a journalist now?").

"Good idea," said Dracmon. "Now we just have to find him."

While the suggestion was mild, the difficulty of the task revealed itself as V-mon was rocketed backwards into the air and crashed through a third-story window, pursued by his doppelganger.

"Puny little nothing!"

Dumbstruck, the five humans and their partners below watched as the black XV-mon actually ripped the side of the building away and cast it to the street. He made a grab for V-mon, only to be knocked forcibly into the air – V-mon had launched himself into his adversary's gut. Without missing a beat, V-mon sprang away and caught the remaining piece of the wall, using it as another springboard to cannon into the monster.

The black XV-mon seized him before he could escape again and hurled him violently downward. Jun screamed as V-mon hit the asphalt with a thunderous noise and an explosion of dust and tar. As it cleared, Jun discovered that there was now a crater where V-mon had landed – not, perhaps, the greatest of fissures, but a deep crater, nonetheless. And in its pit, the little blue dragon was lying motionless.

The black XV-mon descended, breathing heavily, and looked down at his feet. "So, maybe the reports weren't such an exaggeration. You put up a fight, at least. It's a shame your partner fell so easily – I'd wanted to see how a human would contribute to our battle."

The black dragon felt his arm and winced slightly. "Dang, that smarts. Oh, hey!" he said, glancing over and discovering the group assembled on the street corner. "How's it going?"

Akina jumped forward. "Just who do you think you are, anyway? 'How's it going'?! You just used our friend to repave the street!"

"Yeah," admitted the black dragon sheepishly, catching them off guard. "Shame. It's always a pity when I have to do that to a fellow dragon. But, it's cool – he'll be alright. Look," he said, pointing down into the crater. "He's not derezzing into pixels, so really, he's just a bit banged up. Chill."

"THAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?!" screamed Jun. "He's not _dead_? THAT'S your EXCUSE?!"

"No," drawled the XV-mon. "Just saying you can hold off the bite a little. Don't want to bite into something you can't chew, after all. Humans are really rather fragile, you see. It doesn't take much to put 'em down."

"What do you mean?" said Akuma coolly.

"Well," said the black XV-mon. "I'm no expert, but I figured that was the term you used to describe—"

Jun raced past him, not listening to the remainder of the black dragon's words.

"He's around the corner and down a block, I think!" called the black XV-mon. "I dunno, we did cover a lotta ground–HEY!"

The black XV-mon neatly jerked his head to the side, dodging a large boulder of concrete that passed within an inch of his face. He swatted the next one away and glared at Kokabuterimon, who was easily hefting a third. "Look, pal, put down the stone, and I won't have to step on you."

Kokabuterimon looked mildly towards Jing (his expressionless face never showed any emotion), who nodded. As though he were wielding a teddy bear, the trashcan-sized insect lobbed the garbage-truck-sized wreckage at the black dragon, who roared as he crumpled beneath the barrage. Or, at least, that's the way it looked, but in the next second, the huge boulder of plaster, steel, and concrete was torn apart by the dragon.

With a bellow, the black XV-mon lunged forward at the insect, only to swivel in mid-attack, trying to tear Leormon away from where the large cub had sunk its decidedly sharp fangs into his arm. With another cry, the dragon felt his leg give way as something exploded in the crook of his knee.

Looking over his shoulder, the XV-mon saw Commandramon prepare another small grenade. "I wouldn't do that, little dragon. You'd need more than toys to beat me."

"This is no toy," said Commandramon coolly, throwing the small object forward. "DCD Bomb!"

A huge explosion engulfed the black dragon's legs, making it howl in pain. "FILTH!!" he roared, in a dramatic change from the assurance he'd demonstrated earlier. The beast ripped Leormon from his arm and hurled it at Commandramon, who was bowled over. They landed painfully in a mass of concrete.

The black XV-mon slowly advanced upon them, staring, enraged, at them. He picked Leormon up and tossed him aside with enough force that he slammed into a wall on the other side of the four-lane street, and then reached for Commandramon.

"Zekkoushou!"

The black XV-mon roared in pain and whirled around. Floating calmly in the air was Kudamon, with some form of energy crackling out of his markings.

"You will stop this at once," demanded the fox in a low voice. "And you will leave this place."

The sheer audacity of the demand was enough to get the great dragon to laugh. "Really? Or what?"

"This!" said the first of two voices. The second said, "Great Antler!"

The black dragon swiveled around and was caught wholly off guard by a ton of corded muscle wrapped in orange skin: Yagami Taichi and Greymon had arrived.

With a bellow, Greymon plunged headlong into the black XV-mon like a bullet train, crushing him against a wall, and then continuing through it and the next two.

Taichi quickly turned to see Kudamon returning to Akina's side as Commandramon and Leormon woozily pulled themselves to their feet. As Leormon was mumbling something about catnip and Commandramon was rediscovering the force called gravity, he beckoned the fox and Akina. "Where's Daisuke? Shouldn't he be here? Or… is that V-mon?" he finished in a slightly lower tone.

"Do not fear," said Kudamon. "That beast is not our friend."

"We got here too late to stop him," said Akina slowly. "And… And…"

Taichi followed her gaze to the large hole in the ground. "Oh, shoot!"

The high-school student leapt down into pit and pulled V-mon into his arms. "Hey, V-mon, you okay?"

The lack of response from the little blue dragon was unsettling. "V-mon? V-mon!"

Deciding to not wait any longer for a response, Taichi hefted V-mon over his shoulder and scrambled up the slope of the hole. Jing had appeared and was offering him a hand, which he gratefully accepted.

"Is he okay?" asked Akina, slightly fearfully.

"No clue," said Taichi, laying him down against a nearby pillar of stone. "Jyou might have a better idea."

"Fox Fire!" Taichi looked over his shoulder to see a blazing blue light stream across the road.

"Yamato! Garurumon!"

Taichi waved at his best friend, who had just come into view astride a large, blue-silver wolf that was larger than a minivan.

"What happened here?" asked Yamato, dismounting.

Taichi opened his mouth to explain when he was saved the effort: with a huge roar, the black XV-mon exploded upward through the wreckage of what had once been a bank, pulling Greymon skyward with him and then hurling the dinosaur into a nearby building.

"Ah," said Yamato mildly. "I guess that answers my question. Ours?" he asked, with the same change in tone that Taichi had used moments before.

"Nope; that's the one bit of good news."

The blonde paused for a moment. "Hey, where's Jun? I figured she and Dracmon would've wanted to join us. And for that matter, where's…? Is that V-mon?!"

Yamato had just discovered the blue dragon sprawled limply a few feet away.

"And _that_ is the overwhelming tide of bad news that totally washes the good news away," said Taichi. "And here's an extra tidbit: we don't know where Daisuke is."

They looked at Akina, and were stunned to discover she looked as though she were about to cry.

__________

Jun had found Daisuke. The body of her little brother was strewn across a jagged pile of stone, the mouth open slightly, with a small line of blood trickling down to his neck. Jun fell to her knees, tears threatening to spill, and took one of Daisuke's hands into her own.

She looked at him for a long, long moment, and then tore apart the cheap white t-shirt he's been wearing, and placed her hand on his breast.

And then she smiled. She had no intention of becoming a doctor, and had an abysmally shallow knowledge of medical matters, but that was the strong, dreadnought beat of a heart that wouldn't give up without a fight, she was sure.

"Figures," sighed Dracmon from beside her. "Does the boy have any idea of what the phrase "give up" means?"

"It's missing from our family dictionary," giggled Jun. "Really. Daisuke accidentally tore the page out once when he was three. We have yet to buy another one."

She hefted Daisuke onto her back as gently as she could.

"What are you doing?" deadpanned Dracmon. "You'll barely be able to move around with him on your back."

"Any suggestions?" said Jun, struggling to her feet.

Dracmon shrugged. "Let me carry him."

"No offense," said Jun, "but I don't think we'd be much better off."

Dracmon rolled her dichromatic eyes. "Of course not. I mean you need to make me evolve!"

Jun stared blankly at the little vampire. And then she blinked at it.

"Okay," said Dracmon with a long-suffering sigh. "You know how V-mon changes into different creatures, right?"

"Yeah," said Jun, glancing down at Daisuke.

"That's called evolving. It's the thing that makes us change form."

"You can do it, too?"

Dracmon's groan was long and loud. "Supposedly, all of us can."

"Well, hurry up!" said Jun. "Daisuke needs to get to a hospital, now!"

"It's not up to me!" said Dracmon exasperatedly. "That's your job!"

Jun stared at the little creature. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that?!"

Dracmon shrugged. "I have no idea. It might have to do with that thing on your arm."

Brilliant. Just… _perfect_. Jun stared down at the Brace on her arm, and then quickly at Daisuke.

Feeling rather stupid, she pointed it at Dracmon. "Uh… go."

…Nothing.

"Uh… go, please?"

Still nothing.

"Impressive," said Dracmon. "Oh, yeah, I can see why _you_ were picked for the team."

"Shut up!" hissed Jun. "I'm trying! Come on, work! Evolve! Glow! Do _something_!"

Dracmon's decided inability to be comforting, combined with her Brace's sudden desire to not be weird, both occurring in what was rapidly becoming her most trying hour, was causing Jun's temper to flare. Her baby brother was bleeding to death, and the one thing she could do to help him was proving almost impossible. Still trying to get the stupid thing to work, she began to cry from the effort of screaming at it and worrying about Daisuke.

"Come ON, you _stupid little machine_! WORK!!"

It took her a moment to realize it was shining – the jewel had begun emitting a bright light. Stunned, she again pointed it at Dracmon.

The little vampire grinned. "That's one way to do it, I guess."

Suddenly, the little imp threw her head back and began to glow, illuminating their surroundings.

"Dracmon _shinka…_!"

Jun shielded her eyes, and then uncovered them when the light subsided. In Dracmon's place now stood a huge wolf. It's silver fur was sleek, flowing down the length of its body, though the beauty of the fur was eclipsed easily by the creepy looking bat wings that grew from the wolf's back and covered her eyes and her shoulders. But for Jun, it was the wicked-looking blades that seemed to grow from all four legs from the knee down that seemed most frightening.

"Dracmon…?" said Jun slowly, cautiously.

"…Sangloupmon," corrected the beast, who then grinned. "Come on, don't look at me like that. We can go back to hating each other later – I think fearless leader down there is in need of a serious donation."

Jun grinned in relief and hefted Daisuke up onto the wolf's back, and then clambered on herself. "Let's go."

Sangloupmon easily leapt forward into a smooth run, gliding down streets and around corners (the black XV-mon's guess had been inaccurate – they were a good half-mile away, now) as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"How's it feel?" asked Jun curiously. "Any different?"

"The power is incredible!" exclaimed Sangloupmon. "It's like I'm made of liquid steel."

"Well, part of you _is_ steel," said Jun, looking down at her partner's bladed feet. "Be careful, huh?"

"Gotcha, hold on tight."

__________

Things were _not_ going well, Taichi thought wryly. V-mon was down and out, the newcomers had been swept aside, Greymon, though not, apparently, hurt, to judge from the dreamy mutterings about chocolate and mustard, was nonetheless out of the fight, having been smashed through yet another wall, and Garurumon had too fallen. Nobody else had come, probably because the signals of destruction had not yet reached that geek-a-palooza at the middle school. He hoped either Ken or Miyako was kicking butt down there, because then at least _some_ of the Chosen could say they had been doing so on this fine day.

And, as he might have guessed, his cell phone was out of juice, which meant no calling for backup. Luckily, Yamato had his, and apparently, Jyou, being the only one who had actually _picked up_, was coming as fast as his bike would let him (Jyou had never been very good with bicycles). Which was the unlucky part – exactly how could Ikakkumon, impressive bulk notwithstanding, hope to withstand the rage that was the black XV-mon?

The huge beast in question was standing in the center of the street, seething so hard that his whole upper body seemed to rise and fall with his panting breath.

"You. Are. All. Filth. Why must I be _plagued_ with the incessant droning of gnats in my ears? I would not have done such damage if I'd had been left unswarmed."

Apparently, this adversary was not much for defeating lesser opponents, or, at least, what he saw as lesser opponents. Taichi wasn't sure if this was due to a sense of fair play or a serious symptom of vainglory. At least the XV-mon _he_ knew wasn't as prone to monologuing as this one.

"Left unswarmed?" repeated Yamato. "Um, excuse me, but weren't YOU the one who caused all the damage that called our attention?"

The black XV-mon seemed to pause for a moment, and looked at Yamato. "I was only going for enough damage to attract one of you. Unfortunately, even only one carcass can attract flies by the hundreds."

"_Dead_?" demanded Taichi. "You killed someone to bring us here?"

Greymon rumbled, and the dinosaur stirred from beneath the pile of rubble he'd been buried in.

"No," said the black XV-mon. "I did not kill anyone to bring Motomiya here, but, as of this moment, I'm not sure if he's—"

At that moment, a long, loud, crystal-clear howl seemed to reverberate through the air. Akuma stared down the street, and the whistled. "Oy! Over here!"

Jun had appeared astride a huge, eerily silver wolf with blades and batwings growing from its body. And, in her arms, was none but Daisuke Motomiya.

"So, he's still alive," said the black XV-mon. "Not as broken as I thought. Cool. So you humans aren't nearly as superfluous as I thought."

Jun's… _steed_, of sorts, loped easily toward them, coming to a light halt.

"How is he?" said Taichi, immediately turning to the younger boy.

"I don't know," said Jun. "His heart's still beating, but he needs a doctor."

"Well," said Yamato, "we don't have a doctor on call, per se, but we do have something close."

"Hey, Jyou!" said Taichi as yet another of their friends joined the growing group.

"Taichi-san! Yamato-san! Hey, what's going - oh, no. What did Daisuke-kun _do_ to himself?"

"Nothing," said Sangloupmon, in a voice that made Jyou's blood run cold. "Big blackhead over there did it to him. Can you fix him?"

Jun quietly slid Daisuke to Taichi and Yamato, who laid him across the flattest, cleanest part of the street they could find. The instant Daisuke and Jun were clear, Sangloupmon slid in front of the group, coming between them and the black XV-mon.

"Take it easy," said the black dragon. "I wouldn't want to swat you, too, Bloodwolf."

"Swat me?" snorted the silver beast. "I'd _love_ to see you try, blackhead."

Akuma watched them bicker for a moment – nothing more than mild jabs, at least, for now – and turned back to what was quickly becoming a scenario akin to a medical drama. Daisuke had lost a lot of blood, he could see. He was no stranger to seeing people bleed, but he'd never seen the same from someone on his side.

…ON his _side_? What was WRONG with him? He was in charge of the _Ankoku_: he did not have _sides_.

In order to distract himself, he turned back to the Good Doctor's analysis.

"Well," said Jyou after a moment. "He's alive, and his heart's beating. But… that's about the end of the good news. As you can see, he's bleeding pretty badly, having trouble breathing – thank you, Motomiya-san, for helping out with that – but, as you can't see, his legs are both broken, and I'm willing to bet he's bleeding internally. It's a miracle he's still alive, to be quite honest.

"We need to get him to a hospital," he continued. "Who's fast?"

"It doesn't matter," said a voice.

With a growl, Sangloupmon whirled around. Standing there, or, really, floating there, at the end of the street, was a large black insect, with two arms, two legs, and a pair of gleaming red eyes.

"Stingmon?" said the black XV-mon. "What do you want, now?"

"To remind of your mission."

"Look, I got what I came for, see?" the black dragon indicated his body. "Let's just go."

"What, run out of opponents worth fighting?" said the black Stingmon, folding its arms. "The D-3 wasn't the only thing you came here for."

"Look, Motomiya's down – look! And his partner's pretty trashed, too. They couldn't hurt us now, could they?"

"I do hope that's not concern for them I hear," said the black insect.

"Of course not, you twit," said the black dragon. "I just don't see the point of finishing them off."

"Ah. So, it's not compassion," said the Stingmon. "It's sportsmanship. If that.

"Allow me to remind you," the insect continued in a louder voice. "You came to this world to remove the threat of Motomiya and his partner, so that you would be unchallenged in growth to your full power. And do you remember WHY that is necessary?"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered the dragon.

"Good."

"I'm still not going to kill him."

Jun, Akuma, Mason, and the other newest Chosen stared at the weird development in the black XV-mon. Hadn't he, not fifteen minutes ago, displayed total indifference to what may have been the death of Daisuke?

"Fine," sighed the black Stingmon. "Then step aside."

"Do I really have to? I mean, think about it. IF, and that's a big-time IF, Motomiya survives, wouldn't he be the best bet I have to attaining full power? I mean, think about it. If the reports are true, then he's the strongest warrior they have, right? So, he'd–"

"ENOUGH!"

"Fine, fine. Do what you want."

With that, the black XV-mon walked back to the other side of the street, leaned against a wall, and folded his arms.

"Procedure-nut," he muttered.

"I heard that," said the Stingmon tiredly. The insect lifted his arms, and, from the tips, two blades of red, crackling energy emerged.

"Stand aside, children," he said wearily. "I have no desire to kill needlessly, but Motomiya must die."

"Why him?" said Akuma, who found himself surprised to discover he'd opened his mouth at all. "No way can _this_ pain in the butt be that valuable to you."

"It's not a question of value," said the black insect, buzzing slightly closer. "It's a question of threat. Motomiya's link to his partner, like your links to your partners, is crucial to their ability to hold us off. Of all the fighters you can muster, V-mon has the greatest potential of all of you, and the easiest way to prevent it is to exterminate Motomiya."

"Ah, so you're all cowards, is that it?" snorted Akina. "The easy way out? Puh-leese."

Taichi sighed, and then noticed Jing was doing the same. Apparently, Akina would have to be taught about baiting enemies, more specifically, when NOT to do it.

Luckily, the Stingmon seemed to be unperturbed by the barb. "I will count slowly to five, and then Motomiya will die, whether or not you have cleared me a space."

"J…Just try it," growled a little voice.

Slowly, oh so slowly, a scruffy little lion cub with a tuft of fiery red fur that clashed with the otherwise gold pelt and a ring about his neck struggled to its paws. It growled again, and suddenly, the other monsters were all coming to life around it. A soldier dragon joined it after a moment, and then a long, airborne fox-creature, and a large, blue, Tentamon-like insect.

With a rumble, Greymon and Garurumon joined them and the silver wolf at the vanguard surrounding Daisuke. With a flash of light, so did Ikakkumon, a massive, almost walrus-like creature with shaggy white fur and a horn that looked like a small harpoon.

"Ah," said the black dragon. "The cavalry."

"One."

None of the guard moved. Jyou, knowing the sense of dread he was now experiencing with too much familiarity for his own liking, beckoned Taichi, Yamato, and Jun.

"We need to get Daisuke-kun _out_ of here! He'll die if he stays!"

Taichi nodded. "Jun-san, can you and Sangloupmon take Daisuke to the hospital? Jyou, too, he knows the fastest way."

"Two."

"What?" hissed Jun. "What about you guys?"

"Our digimon are either too slow or too battle weary to slip out of here with Daisuke. We can do a rear guard, but not an escape," said Yamato. "Your partner is fast enough to do that."

"Three."

Commandramon struggled to hold his rifle steady. The little energy bullets wouldn't do much against that insect armor, but all kinds of armor had chinks somewhere.

"How long will it take?" demanded Taichi. "How long to get to the hospital?"

"From here? Three minutes. If we're lucky."

Taichi groaned. One hundred and eighty seconds (or more) for something to go very, very wrong.

"Four."

Sangloupmon, a natural predator with supernaturally keen senses, had heard this all, and slid back, unnoticed, to Jun's side. "So, we're slipping away?"

"I hope."

"Yamato," said Taichi. "Try calling the others again. We might get lucky."

"…Five."

And then, it was chaos. Absolute chaos. Leormon's cub growls were lost among the roar of Greymon, Garurumon, and Ikkakumon, who had charged (Ikkakumon had really kind of hopped a little) into the Stingmon's path.

The Stingmon easily dodged their haphazard attacks, and immediately dodged to the right, into a hail of bullets and a shock of energy.

"Moon Shooter!"

Kokabuterimon's projectile exploded into dozens of smaller rocks flying in all directions. The Stingmon lunged forward again, and then, inexplicably, to the right.

It was but the work of a moment for him to find and tail the silver wolf, speeding around the corner and out of sight. The black insect chased after, dodging attacks from Greymon behind and Garurumon ahead.

"M16 Assassin!"

Again, the bullets!

The Stingmon dodged left, right, down – he was an inch from the road! Incredible; where were the bullets coming from? He was obviously faster than that Child of a Dramon, so how…?

Ah. That's right. Commandramon's skin was covered in a computerized film that could judge colors in real-time and change. In short, camouflage. He must've been riding atop Garurumon or Greymon. The question was, who?

"Moon Shooter!"

The charged ball again shot from his arm, aimed just above Garurumon. There was the sound of a gunshot, and then the attack exploded.

Okay. That made things easier.

__________

Jyou Kido was not feeling very well. No, not very well at all.

He had several reasons for this.

One was that he was being chased by a homicidal insect that would stop at nothing to kill Daisuke, even if it meant slicing through his friends with those really rather scary energy-blades of his. Another was that he was riding atop a very fast moving creature, and that the sensation was something akin to a roller coaster. Jyou hated roller coasters. The third was that, instead of safety restraints, he had to hold on by wrapping his arms around Motomiya Jun's waist, who, despite the rumors of being crazy, was a young woman. A very pretty, shapely young woman. Jyou, being very proper and stuff (according to Sora), had always hated being alone with girls, the prettier the worse. Being forced to hold one by the waist was nearly torturous.

He distracted himself by shrieking directions. "Left! LEFT!!!"

"No need to shout!" chastised Jun. "And no need to hold so tightly, either!"

"Humans," groaned Sangloupmon (being who she was, she could sense the flare of heat in Jyou's cheeks). "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"Shut up and run!"


End file.
